Why Baristas are Better than Regular People.

Before I start blabbing on about why I'm better than you (jokes jokes), I'll update you on what's been going on in my life the last 3 weeks or so. Starbucks consumes most of my life, so there is little to say what I do outside of work.

-- Starbucks' Christmas season began a few weeks ago so my manager, a fellow barista and I worked our butts off getting the store looking like Santa Claus puked his red-cheerful-merry Christmas bliss everywhere. The store is filled with a ginormous amount of Christmas Blend coffee that will surely last us 4 or 5 years. The windows are decorated with snow flakes (minus the real snow that has yet to fall upon South Bend..and it's almost December). The mood in my store has progressed to a nice level. My coworkers seem to be in better spirits. I'm not sure if it's the Christmas season or people are finally starting to do their jobs without complaining. I hope it's the latter. I'll take what I can get because work is a more enjoyable place again. Along with my store, I also decorated my house with Christmas decorations. I think this may have been the earliest we have finished decorating and I think we were the first house with lights up in my neighborhood. Don't judge us! And this last Thursday was Thanksgiving, so I worked in the morning and spent the rest of the day cooking and eating. I probably ate my body weight in turkey and green bean casserole. I got to see a few friends who were back from school and that was awesome. I also went out with a friend, my other friend Steph and her cousin from Italy. We hit up a newer bar in town and the place was hoppin with kids from my grade school, high school, and a crap load of random friends. After another boring day or two, I'm now sitting here writing to you guys. Let's do this!

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As Starbucks baristas, we're known for being unbelievably good-looking and amazing at what we do. But what the regular people don't know, is that we're amazing at doing the most random things. If you try and argue with me, I'll be upfront and say that you're wrong. I'm not working behind the bar, so I don't have to "Just Say Yes" to your nonsense. My store is known for being amazing, and it's only proof that even though we are the slowest store in the area, we make the best tips. I don't leave my shirt two buttons undone at the drive-thru window for no reason..LOOK AT ME NOW..IM GETTING PAPER!

Pointless Talents of a Starbucks Barista

-We can write on cups just as well as paper.
-We can remember a ridiculous amount of drinks that are spit out to us in the drive-thru without having to put them in the expeditor.
-We can tell who is going to be a bitch before they speak.
-We carry 6+ gallons of milk at once from the back of the store to the front multiple times a day.
-We can talk to a person while taking an order from a different person all while counting money from someone else all at once.
-We can translate obnoxious hand movements into english (such as the hand movement for a sleeve. Come on people, we're in Starbucks, not a parked car behind a strip club downtown.)
-We can always sometimes speak through the drive-thru speaker without messing up while being poked or molested by our fellow baristas.
-We can spot a needy person from a mile away.
-We can do almost anything in the 20-some seconds it takes for the espresso machine to pull a shot. For example, we can run to the back fridge and grab 6 gallons of milk and run back before the shot finishes pulling, we can rinse 10+ milk pitchers, we can run to grab a newspaper while grabbing a pastry and a coffee on the way to catching the shot.
-We clean more than your house maid.
-We can fix technical issues, broken pipes, clogged toilets, espresso machines, climb 20 feet to change a light-bulb, "fix" cupboards.
-We are amazing at over-analyzing things and assuming everything is completely broken and useless without consulting a professional first.
-We are pros at handling liquids of temperatures as high as 200 degrees.
-We are able to spill freshly brewed coffee all over our hands while keeping a straight face.
-We can take in more bullshit than the average person.
-We can flip whip cream and caramel bottles like we're bartenders.
-We know your dogs name before we know yours.
-We know your multiple drinks before we know your name.
-We can make a huge mess with just about anything.
-We can kick a paper cup across the store if we're pissed off enough.
-We can be louder than the average person.
-We can turn anything into a "That's What She Said" joke.
-We can make anything filthy.
-We can corrupt good people into vile, disgusting human beings.
-We have better singing voices than Frank Sinatra, opera singers, and you.


This list is endless because our talents are endless. Don't hate us because we're so popular.

Hi, I'm Outspoken.

Over the last year and a half, I've come to realize 1) What the definition of "outspoken" is And 2) That I am very much a good representation of it.

For the most part, it has led me into trouble with family and friends. I honestly believe and standby what I say 100%, but I later end up feeling guilty and sad for what I have stood up for. I shouldn't feel this way. Sometimes I wish people wouldn't be so sensitive and take it so seriously, but I get what I ask for. In the past, I have called people out for acting a certain way or doing something they shouldn't have done, or for even being dishonest. I don't want to come off as one of those people who think everyone else is in the wrong, and I'll usually admit when I was in the wrong, but I come off as an arrogant asshole. Not to sound cocky, but most people love me, and I'm trying not to wear the mask of an egotistical douche bag when I say that. I'm very easy to get along with and can hold a wide range of friendships with many strange people.

In the past, I have told my friends how it is. They can take it or leave it. But where do we draw the line? Sometimes, I feel like i know people better than they do. I feel like I can read them so well that I know when they're lying or feeling uncomfortable. That might be why I get along with so many different types of people, because they feel like I understand them when nobody else does. If you're friends with me, I'm going to be apart of it completely...and sometimes that bothers people in the end. I've lost friendships with girls because I see them making huge mistakes with their boyfriends or see them ruining their friendships with other people, and it scares me. I don't want to be that person who admits to feeling left out or neglected or even used. They usually don't want to hear it. I had a friend who shared my bluntness and we always told each other that if we started to date someone and we began to neglect our friendship with each other, that we would call them out before it got too far. In the end, she got her boyfriend and things got awkward. She wanted to be with him all the time and eventually got to the point where she let him convince her that I had feelings for her, which was obviously not true. He didn't like me. It was clear. But when I finally "grew a pair" and got enough courage to tell her how I felt, it was too late. She got all defensive and made me feel like I was the one who changed. I ended up telling her what needed to be said, but was unwelcome. It's the classic "best friend gets a boyfriend/girlfriend" scenario.

And so I grow...

Sometimes I think about the most outspoken person in history and it makes me feel better about the person I am. That would be Jesus Christ. Before you judge me, hear me out. Im in no way trying to compare myself to him, because lets face it, its no competition. Think about it. It all makes sense. Jesus didn't care the tiniest bit about how people thought of him. Seriously. If I was a Pharisee back in the day and I tried to convince him that what he was saying was incorrect, I would probably hate his guts, mostly because he would prove me wrong so fast.I would prefer to be outspoken like Martin Luther King Jr than outspoken like.....Kanye West?

I'm not sure where I was really going with this blog post. I guess the mix of my sarcasm and outspokenness can sometimes piss people off. I don't regret what I do, I just sometimes regret the manner in which I presented my opinion.

If you haven't taken the Myers-Briggs Personality test, I strongly recommend it. I will post a link to the site at the end of my post. It has really shown me a lot about the person I am and the person I can be. It describes me perfectly. I am an ENFP. It's one of 16 different personality types. From what I've read and reserched, its the rarest personality type of the 16, with only 2 or 3 percent of the population possessing it. After re-reading it, one of the biggest traits someone with this personality has is outspokenness...go figure. They tend to be very emotional and highly value friendships. It's also states that people with my personality type, ENFP, have outstanding intuitive powers and can tell what is going on inside of others.

NOOOvember

It's November. Let me repeat...it's freaking November! Where has this year gone? I swear for the past few years, I say this more and more. I guess this comes with old age. Right now I'm sitting in my house, because it's too cold outside, and I'm writing this blog post surrounded by four cats and a dog. Two of the kittens should've been out of the house a long time ago, but I have procrastinated doing that because they're cute as hell. But that's what I do...I procrastinate, I'll tell you all about that later...

I love November, I just hate how quickly it arrives. When the days become shorter, everyone's emotions run high. Customers are crappy, and so are the baristas. I think this season makes everyone depressed, but when the sun is out, it all changes. I actually feel motivated to write a little today. It's been awhile but who cares. I have my coffee and my iPad so I'm good to go.

You all know a little bit about my journey with getting (back?) in shape and probably understand why it's been a struggle for me from my past posts. Everyone who has ever struggled with their weight knows that there is a deeper darker reason for the problem. A lot of it is because of emotional eating. We do it because it makes us feel better for a little bit. But after we do it, we then feel even worse than we originally did. We all have our reasons and we all have our insecurities. Looking at me, you would probably roll your eyes at the fact that I have a weight problem. You might even want to smack me in the face. But for me, food was a solution to my problems as a child. The biggest problem was bullies in grade school. Over the last year, it has become clearer and clearer that bullies were my issue. After the wide-coverage of teen suicides about a year ago, it became evident that I struggled with their same problems. I was never suicidal or really even close to it, but I knew what they were going through. Even at 20 years old, I was still having to deal with a bully at work and it was tearing me apart. After I got promoted and left that hell, I could now get back up on my feet. And this is probably the hardest part. I have to learn how to control my emotional eating and deal with my issues. My friends could probably tell you that I am a very confident person and highly sarcastic, which might be a problem in some areas of my life, but in the end, they wouldn't expect me to have a problem. The nice part is, I'm finally moving forward and I am proud to say that I am kicking it's ass.

In mid-September, I watched a documentary called "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" and it was a huge eye opener for me. It had a two-week detox program for people wanting to get back on their feet and reboot their bodies. For two weeks, I juiced like crazy. I had to give up sugar, caffeine, alcohol, meat, wheat, nuts, dairy...and pretty much EVERYTHING that wasn't a fruit or vegetable. It was difficult but I made it through it and I feel great. I lost about 13 lbs in fifteen days and a few weeks afterwards I only gained a few pounds back, which is normal. About eleven days ago, I decided I wanted to become a vegetarian until Thanksgiving Day, where I will most likely completely reverse everything I worked for, seeing that it's my favorite holiday. But by then, I plan to lose another 13 pounds. I have 23 days and I know I can do it! I just literally have to work my ass off.

Recently, I've been trying to change my outlook on life. For so long, I was afraid of change, afraid of exploring the outside world. I have all these dreams and aspirations but have been moving in neutral gear. Ive done nothing. I realized that until I change, until I actually do something to change, my dreams will only be a fantasy. God has blessed me with an amazing life, but I need to continue discovering what all that actually is. I have settled for a mediocre life for so long, thinking that this is all God has given me, but it isn't. I will never know what I can do, things I can change, people I can inspire and my inner gifts if I stay still. God didn't give me feet to walk a mile, He gave me the ability to go where I please and build my life around Him. And from what I've heard, the world is a big place full of crazy opportunities. I just can't be a wuss anymore.

"If fear is all that we should fear, then what are we so afraid of? Fear is only in our head. So why do we let it control us?"