The Barista Experience: Life Behind the Bar

My local café is cozy - there are comfy chairs and friendly people behind the counter. I know this because I work there. Within the bounds of barista-customer and barista-barista confidentiality, I'll describe what it's like to work at a café.

The regular customers know a lot about me and the other baristas at our store. For example, they understand I'm extremely underemployed, thanks to Michigan's economy. They know I have money troubles, car troubles, and dreams of having children with my husband someday despite our financial difficulties.

Like them, I have hope, and we seem to reflect that in each others' brief gaze over a thank you and a latte. I enjoy taking the time to customize a drink for a customer - even if it means re-making the beverage - just to satisfy him or her. My job is rewarding, not just because of tips, sympathy, and thanks, but because I receive a unique glimpse into the lives of my customers.

Without being too specific, I will reveal that customers have discussed various things with me: the stresses of parenthood, career changes, the other café down the street, identity theft, work stress, divorce, and business strategies.

I feel like a cab driver with regulars. I offer up a smile and a decent drink (all part of my job) and in return I get a real response from customers. Technically, I'm a bartender, and the pleasure of caffeine causes folks to chatter at least as much as alcohol in most cases.

When I ask a regular how they're doing, I am usually rewarded with an honest answer. I also offer my regular customers the respect of answering them honestly in return.

There's a great deal of drama behind the counter, too. Just like all people, baristas have stresses, difficulties, and major life events. In the year we've been open, the staff of my store has seen two marriages, an engagement, several transfers to and from the store, the births of two babies, and the purchase of two puppies and a light saber.

Despite the occasional store tension (bound to happen anywhere), we're a close bunch. I'd gladly go to the mats for my manager, supervisors, and fellow baristas.

Working at a café is like a better version of high school. I can be in the midst of gossip, drama, events, and happenings at my leisure. As long as I work there, I am part of the experience - and dare I say reason - that some customers return on a regular basis.

Eventually, I am positive that my pride and experience will pay off. One day, perhaps an executive of a publishing company will become one of my regulars. So far, I have utilized my relationships with coworkers and customers to launch my freelance writing business locally.

The café reinforces that everything is connected in a medium-sized town. I like it that way.

Share this article

Tags: people   Life   money   work   children   Business   School   Writing   

Politics Factzone: The truth about Kim Jong Il Kim Jong Il, the leader of the free world, has decided to move on to more fertile grounds, leaving with us just the memories of 8-color rainbows, singing Korean women and couple of nuclear weapons. But who was this man whose next ambition would have been to get the next Nobel Peace prize? Here are just a few facts you should know about. more Top 5 Conspiracy Theories Related to John F. Kennedy's Assassination 26.Aug 2011 Since just after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, conspiracy theories abou...read ISRAEL KEEPING GHADDAFI AFLOAT 10.Mar 2011 ...read Glen Beck Is NOT the Anti-Christ! 10.Mar 2011 Hurtful and fiery rhetoric is now media’s default setting! This slippery and m...read Recipe for A REVOLUTION! (10 easy steps - try not to get burned!) 28.Feb 2011 Rebellion is cooking in the air. People are mad as hell, and not going to take...read THE ASSANGE CASE. CIA INTERFERED WITH SWEDISH LEGAL PROCESSES EXTREME RIGHT POLITICS A DANGER TO EUROPEAN UNITY THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY. OUT OF TOUCH, OUT OF FOCUS, OUT OF CREDIBILITY AND HOPEFULLY, OUT OF THE DOOR Opinion World governments charged with criminal negligence (in response to Megaupload case) EARTH (thecheers.org) - Federal authorities of the universe have charged the governments of all the countries in the world as well as the operators actually in power in these countries with operating a criminal enterprise, the Galaxy warriors announced Today. more The Great OSCARS 2011 – or so it would seem 5.Mar 2011 So, how exciting......a morning off, the Academy Awards. I wish I could say the...read Top 7 Expensive Bordellos. Prostitution: Shakedown, Tier Down, and Priced Out 31.Jan 2011 According to a report of the Washington DC-based US Department of State, The Ph...read The Great Secret and Reason for the JFK Assassination 11.Oct 2010 The great question is why the great secret? On June 4 1963, President Kennedy s...read Don't Do it! The 3 Worst Times to Get Tattoos 4.Oct 2010 As a general rule, tattoos gotten after 2 am are a bad idea. But in a bigger pi...read

Travel Travel Warning 13 September 2010 - DO NOT TRAVEL TO IRAN 13.Sep 2010 TRAVELWISE has been watching the situation in Iran for some months in relation ...read more TRAVELWISE TRAVEL ADVISORY 5th June 2010. DO NOT TRAVEL TO ISRAEL. 5.Jun 2010 Given the recent incident whereby the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad, used...read TRAVELWISE. 16 APRIL 2010. EUROPEAN TRAVEL ALTERNATIVES 16.Apr 2010 Travelwise issues the following advice in relation to cancelled flights to, fro...read TRAVELWISE 6 APRIL 2010. AUSTRALIAN AIR TRAVEL. THE BEST WAYS TO TRAVEL BY AIR IN AUSTRALIA. 5.Apr 2010 Regular readers might have seen and read the various advisory and no-fly notice...read TRAVELWISE 2 APRIL 2010. QANTAS. 2.Apr 2010 Some concerns have been raised in relation to some of the maintenance practices...read Sport No Payoff From the Playoffs $16.50 will Get Anyone in the Hall Mr McGwire Stupid Athlete Tricks Technology Think Big! Think the World's Largest International Trade Show Top 9 cool laptop accessories for laptop geeks Twittering: I'm not that interesting Cheers Jesus' Answering Machine Brown Couch or twelve midgets in the town square How To Be Happy Drugged Out Saturday Nights Muslim Decapitation: Bad, or Simply Misunderstood?

Now I feel stupid. That\'s cleeard it up for me says on 2012-01-28 14:27:01 about VeGaiAujngDOkt Now I feel stupid. That's cleeard it up for me

WIAN says on 2007-04-26 00:47:08 about liked it.. very nice article. Man you must have seen so many people. It really does sound like a rewarding experience. Here in India its very different. people dont really look a the people working at cafes as someone you can talk to. And that is because the ones who are doing it, dont pride themselves in it. They feel ashamed that while india is skyrocketing economically, they are doing a menial job. If only someone were to tell them that its a job none of us can do without, we could hope to have better relationships with them. sigh , hopefully someday.

	Post Comment    Your nickname    About what    Your comment   Are you human? How much is 1 + 2?