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Some things you just can’t make up at Starbucks. For example, today I am sitting at Starbucks and for the last hour there has been a lady cleaning… and she definitely does not work at Starbucks. She has a little strip of metal, that I don’t think is a knife, that she is scraping the edge of the area of the bar where the baristas make drinks. She also has a rag that she is wiping the ledge “clean” with as well. I put “clean” in quotes because the rag looks far from clean. This blog will be structured differently as I will update things as I see them. Since she has been there awhile… it might be a bit disjointed.
The lady is dressed mostly in black. She has black pants on, a black sport coat, a leopard print shirt, white socks, and sandals.
She seems to really be having fun as she is cleaning the same space over and over and over again. It’s been a six foot space the entire time that she has been attempting to clean this area. To be completely honest, she might just be ripping off all the varnish the way she is going. She has earbuds in and is clearly enjoying the music. As she is cleaning, she is dancing and bobbing her head. She occasionally has sung along to her music as well.
At one point the Starbucks partners attempted to see if they could help her. She just grunted at the girl who asked “May I help you?” As I continue to write this, she continues to focus on the one area of the bar. She does occasionally take breaks to go get hand sanitizer to aid her cleaning efforts. During her most recent break to get more hand sanitizer, a stuffed animal dropped int he middle of the floor… where it still remains.
It has been another twenty minutes since I started this blog about the cleaner, I can definitely see a spot where she has completely worked through the varnish. Actually, I correct myself, there are two spots about six inches long where the varnish has been completely stripped. The corner edge of the bar is now completely stripped as well. I can imagine someone coming in and looking at this and wondering what and how the varnish got damaged in this way because it really does look random. On the flip side, if she keeps going all day… the whole thing might be stripped of varnish. In which case, there might be career potential for her someday in woodworking.
She just walked away to get more sanitizer which she is rubbing into the wood along the edge. When she went to get it, she picked up her plush that fell on the floor earlier. Below the area where is working there is now debris on the floor. Some of it is napkins that are now being utilized to aid her efforts. Others looks like it could be shavings from the bar.
The plot thickens. The manager just came up and said she didn’t need to do that and asked her politely to stop. The lady responded, “I’m having fun.” She has continued to work on the wall. Now she is apparently mopping the floor where all the wood was gathering.
Apparently she is now done with the bar area and is working on the condiment bar instead, which happens to be right behind me. It is difficult to see but she has now wiped it clean twice. As I’m typing this, she has moved on to a long table against the window which she is now wiping clean. I’m wondering if the walls are next.
I was wrong, the walls weren’t next. Apparently the long table was enough. She has moved outside now and is preparing to depart I think. She definitely left her mark on this store. While not malicious or intentionally causing damage in any way, she definitely ripped a lot of varnish off the bar and who knows where else. I believe she was already at work on this before I arrived.
One more reason and experience that just makes me appreciate Starbucks. I love how gracious the team here was about this. I also love that even though it could have been very annoying, the partners at this store approached it with a sense of humor as well. The people at Starbucks really are something that sets this company apart from other companies. I recognize that not all stores are the same but I am always thankful when I feel like I find a store with the true Starbucks experience where people come first. With that, I’m going to enjoy my coffee, get back to work, and keep my eyes open for the next Adventure at Starbucks!
On to the next adventure!
