Starbucks Nation

Every now and then it's fun to surprise those who know you best. Keeps the mystery alive as they say. Last week I shocked my friends and relatives by getting a job as a barista at Starbucks. "No, you did not!" my daughter Lauren responded when I called her to share the news. She's almost 27 now, the same age as my new boss. "Shut up!" echoed her boyfriend Ryan. EK, always the maverick, thought it was funny, in a good way. "That's really cool, Mom!" she said, which was nice to hear. Friends also expressed mixed emotions. "Are you serious?" "That's so cute!" "Keep telling yourself it's only 4 hours a day." "I think it's fantastic!"

It was just an idea at first. Something to counter the isolation of writing and boost the cash flow a bit. Somewhere three of my favorite things--coffee, chocolate and people--came together. The company Web site listed a Starbucks job fair coming up nearby, so I went to investigate the possibilities and ended up filling out an application, which included the question, "What do you like about coffee?", and participating in a group interview that began with "Tell us your name and your favorite Starbucks drink."

I felt kind of odd sitting there with four twenty-somethings: a store manager and three other job applicants, but I tried not to let it show and felt I held my own in the interview. Except maybe for one question: What would you do if you had to be late for work? I gave the expected answer--call your supervisor and explain--plus what I thought was a little extra apple polishing: "And then what I do is stay longer at the end of the day and make up the work." Too bad I went first on that one. "Well, I've never been late, so I can't say from personal experience," the next interviewee answered, and the other two took the cue. "I've never been later either." "Me either." "Hey!" I wanted to butt in. "I was a manager. Managers can be late." But under the circumstances, that would've sounded kind of pathetic, in a Tennessee Williams has-been heroine kind of way, so I just let it go.

Two days later, I got the call they'd said would come within the week, if at all. A job offer from Starbucks! And not only that, but I'd been hand-picked by my interviewer to join his staff at a new store slated to open in three weeks. "It's going to be a drive-through," he said, "which means a little faster pace. Are you up for it?" Yes, of course I was. In fact, I was actually excited. We agreed I would start Monday at a nearby store where I'd train until the new one opened. Wow, I thought. Five days from application to W-4. Not bad. And to think I'd been worried I might be considered too old to get another job.

Then on Monday my interviewer/new boss mentioned that he was really happy with the crew he'd found at the job fair, especially because of our diversity. Huh? Well, one of our group was Japanese, but the rest of us looked to be garden-variety Caucasians. Unless... Could it be that being at least twice as old as the typical Starbucks employee might actually have worked in my favor? It reminded me of something my grandfather said once when he learned he was eligible for a senior discount on tickets to the Hell Drivers grandstand show at the North Carolina State Fair. "Well, I guess there is some advantage to getting old."

Dream Venti: http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/jobcenter.asp