By Maude Perkins
The Man has spoken. I don’t have the right personality to do my job effectively. Or at least that’s what my district manager says. She has made this confident assessment just one day after meeting me.
Yes, despite an extensive history of happy customers and impeccable job performance, a perfect record of log-recording, a masterful and speedy career as a barista, and three years as a distinguished member of the coffee culture, I recently received word that none of that matters because I am too sarcastic. And I refuse to suggestively sell, which is apparently the only element of the job that means anything to anyone who isn’t actually standing behind a register, forced to suggestively sell.
This isn’t a surprise by any stretch, but Corporate wants us to be fake. Like the transforming costume of a superhero, once my apron goes on I am supposed to become a phony-baloney in-your-face salesman, leaving all traces of my personality at the door. I don’t get paid enough to put on an enthusiastic act about pastries, nor raise my voice to a nicer, more happy-to-see-you octave.
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Posted on February 2, 2007