There's this quaint little Starbucks in a classy, quiet, friendly neighborhood of Fresno called Fig Garden. It is filled with wealthy old folk in pastel who never fail to say hello or good morning, or greet Pink Lilly as I take her for walks when I'm dog sitting. This Starbucks shares a shady, greenery-filled parking lot with Whole Foods, JCrew, Banana Republic, Jamba Juice and live outdoor concerts every week.
What I'm saying is I could set up a tent in this parking lot and have no need for anywhere else.
This is the main reason I applied to work part time at this Starbucks. Do I want to work at Starbucks? Eh, I wouldn't say no but wouldn't say yes, either. Do I want to work at this Starbucks? Yes. That's how warm and fuzzy I feel about it. I applied, prayed for favor, and
As I hoped, she had me in for a "casual interview" which consisted of chatting about life and laughing. Not one interview-related question was asked, besides "what job did you have before??" Even that was asked out of curiosity rather than for interview purposes. In short, I felt more like I'd found a friend than a potential supervisor. God, I hoped for that job. It was too good to be true. This was when she broke the bad news: that particular location wasn't hiring... because they hadn't had any turnover in 2 years (!!!) because it was just that lovely and no one else wanted to leave, either. (!!!) DAGGUMMIT. So close. "However... HOWEVER!" she said, "You WOULD be trained at this location. Then sent to the busiest Starbucks between Stockton and Bakersfield."
No. Why you gotta hurt me like that. Just, no. No no no no no, that wasn't what I came here for.
Meanwhile, over in Old Town Clovis...
A cozy little Christian-ran real-coffee-coffee-shop (very non-Starbucks) with antique brick walls, dark re-purposed wood and cool naked light bulbs is bustling with a consistent, friendly, non-snobby coffee community. (A rare find. I'm easily intimidated by coffee snobs because I like [lots of] cream and don't dress as well.) Michael knows the owner and after two emails, reassuring him that I would stick to it and not peace out on him like so many had lately, I found myself a job. I learned what a macchiato actually is, the finer points of making a french press and a pour over, and that I like straight shots of good espresso. Basically I found my inner coffee badass.
I had worked 3 opening shifts when I received a phone call from the beloved pipe-dream Starbucks location manager. She had strange news: for the first time in 2 years, she had just received a barista's 2 week's notice. She had called me first. Me.
The timing. My heart. It splintered a little.
Well, remembering my commitment made the answer easier. It was obviously a no. Because she is that cool, she loves the other coffee shop a lot and understood my plight. If I ended up hating it for some reason, call her, she said. I hung up genuinely sad, feeling like I'd missed "it" with one wrong move, but hoped I'd be blessed for doing the right thing.
Evening approaches of the same day, and I receive an email from coffee shop boss. He had strange news: the girl I had replaced had been denied entrance to college due to returning from a summer camp job a week too late. She would be resuming her opening shifts and my hours would be drastically reduced. Basically, I was no longer needed and he understood if I needed to find work elsewhere.
I read that sentence several more times as the straight-up wackiness of it all sunk in. When I informed Michael (in hysterics), he said "when you told me that Starbucks had called you, I asked God to give you a release from [coffee shop]. Looks like that's what happened." Uh... I hadn't even thought to pray for that. Thanks, bud. ;)
I finished up my shift the next morning and drove straight from that to pipe-dream Starbucks and met with pipe-dream manager. Told her the hilariousness that was my life. After another casual, laugh-filled catch up on life, she asked if I had any questions and said she had to wait for my background check to come back. I paused and said, "So... are you telling me that if I don't turn up as a murderer or felon, that I'm hired...?"
"Yep!"
Just like that, without an interview, I gots da job. And that is how I'm about to freakin buy that cute seafoam green mug I've been eye-ing for 3 months at 40% off, you guys.
