Starbucks Employees Pity Whoever Works At These 2-Lane Drive-Thrus
Starbucks employees have been reacting pretty strongly to a photo shared in a Reddit thread over the weekend. The original poster shared a photo that showed a drive-thru at the coffee company with two lanes instead of one. "I feel so bad for those partners," the poster wrote.
The image on the Reddit account was a screenshot of a post from the Starbucks Partners instagram page. This account is dedicated specifically to show photos and stories about Starbucks employees, with the goal of highlighting "what it means to be a partner." In the original Starbucks Partner post, the company shared that the two-lane drive-thru is at a store in Monrovia, California. "The first-ever Y-Lane Drive Thru location," the caption read. Though the location isn't new, the store recently went through a series of renovations, and this post highlighted the grand re-opening. "Latte lovers are welcomed by an outdoor lounge accented with a green awning, warm-toned lights and beautiful views of the surrounding landscape," the caption continued.
Though many people were excited about the store — "They need more of this type of store! Beautiful," one person commented — the partners in the Reddit thread were less impressed.
The Starbucks employees worried two lanes would be difficult to manage
Based on the Reddit thread, it appears that the employees were worried that two lanes would be overwhelming for the staff and difficult to manage. "I would die if I had to work bar by myself with the flood of drinks. Stressful enough with one lane," one Reddit user chimed in.
In other parts of California, the company has had trouble staffing stores. In San Francisco, these issues have led to store closures across the city. Baristas have said that the coffee chain can be a very stressful place to work, so it's not surprising to see that they're concerned about managing two simultaneous lines. "I work here ! And yes it's very crazy," another user wrote on the Reddit thread. The person claimed that the store currently had 28 people on staff. The user also shared that management expected employees to connect with customers, but "keep it under 40 seconds."
Though these time restrictions are often to help customers get through the line and on their way faster, they can sometimes make the job more stressful. Employees at Chick-Fil-A, which is known for its speedy drive-thrus, have stated in the past that the corporate drive-thru guidelines can be hard to manage. One partner in the Reddit thread even made a joke about the reputation of the fried chicken chain: "Welcome to chick-fil... i mean starbucks! welcome to starbucks! what can we get started for you?," they wrote.