Happy Scents

I finished high school and finished Freshman of college in Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC) in Manila but the petition of my aunt to my family got granted after twenty years since my aunt filed the petition. In Philippines, our parents if they were able, had the sole responsibility to pay for tuition, school and miscellaneous fees in college. After finishing a college degree, then that’s the time we have to look for a job. My older brother finished his college degree before he started working.

I, my sister and my mom migrated to United States when I was 19 after my dad passed away and my brother (included in the petition) couldn’t come because he was over 21 yrs. old and he wasn’t dependent anymore.

With starting a new life, my family has to have all jobs to survive and go to college. I and my sister worked in Starbucks and my mom worked in TCBY (beverage and food stalls in O’hare Airport).

HMS Host collectively owns the Starbucks, TCBY, Wolfgang Puck and most of the restaurants in Terminal 1, 2 and 3 at that time.

The orientation was a bit culture shock for me not only because we have to understand and speak in English, learn customer service, and to top all of that had to learn all the monetary bills/coins/change of United States. It was my first job experience.

The start of my shift was counting your bank from the cashier from the previous shift. I was afternoon to night shift. My job started at 1:30 pm. We had to learn all the hot, cold beverages and food/sandwiches that Starbucks had. Grateful we were young to learn fast because they were so many customers we served daily.

Things I learned working in Starbucks:

1. You will hear all the complains about the drinks even from another state because customers want a free drink. They will hold on to the cup that was empty just to complain. All you had to do is smile and make them a new drink because the company promotes customer service. Customer is always right.

2. Bring your good personality in front especially if you are the cashier because smiling and good customer service equals more tips that you will divide among your co-workers at the end of your shift. It is a bonus too if you remember the customers and their usual orders.

3. Cleaning before, in between and at the end of the day were very important because you were working in a food/beverage business. You can only be accountable of your work ethics as far as cleaning, punctuality, camaraderie, and teamwork. You can never impose on another co-worker because you are not the supervisor or manager.

4. Companies will take advantage of any delayed flights by staying open so expect overtime in your unit/station especially if there were still passengers nearby.

5. Take advantage of food vouchers for meals because Airport food were expensive unless you bring your own food during break time.

6. It was fun meeting and working with people with different cultures and some were foreign exchanged students from different countries.

7. Be vigilant and patient on making drinks for the customer because she/he wants it a certain way. Be vigilant on money handling as you will come up short or over if you are not paying attention. Being short and over with huge amount can cause written warning and grounds for termination.

8. FIFO (first in and first out) to all milk, coffee grounds, syrups and etc. There were a lot of food waste at the end of the shift as we need to check the date of all the sandwiches and need to toss the expired sandwiches, milk or syrups.

9. Managers and supervisors were very approachable especially if you have problems in your unit/station. They gave you good feedback too when a customer appreciates your work or constructive criticism on how you can improve on service.

10. I will tell the customers about this to be nice to the food/baristas/bartenders and servers because you will never know what they will do with your food in the kitchen, or at your coffee in the espresso machine. Some were very difficult customers that they will treat you so badly no matter what you do, keep asking to redo the drinks and holding up the line. I won’t regret doing a little to the drink as a payback.

Working in the airport seeing people and their families going and arriving from vacation. It was a sight to behold people going in and out of the state or connecting flight out of the country may it be for pleasure or business.

Seeing children and their families were going for an adventure or teenagers having school tournament out of state. Some people I have chance to see were celebrities or prominent people. It was heart warming to see different walks of life from babies to grandparents travelling.

My greatest take-aways was having co-workers that became friends for a lifetime. I will be grateful to Starbucks. We were part of their milestones as meeting their partners/spouses and having child/children of their own.