Coffee, Chaos, and Clarity

Today started out like any other day on the job.  My shift at Starbucks started at 6am.  I didn't get alot of sleep the night before, and I started to tell myself that UGH....I just had to make it through one more day.  It was Friday, the end of a long and tiring week.  Fridays could sometimes be the busiest day of the week at our store, and you could just feel it in the air that today would be one of those (un)lucky days.  I was irritable, grouchy, and in the process of deciding that this day was just going to suck royally.  To my delight, this outlook found encouragement from most of my coworkers, who seemed disinterested and were more content with singing the praise of the weekend that hadn't yet arrived.  Nobody wanted to be at work.  Misery always seems to love company, especially on the job.  It certainly looked like today was going to suck, but hey, at least we would all be going down with the ship together.


I was stationed at the espresso bar as the drink maker.  The line of customers started to form around 6:30am.   It began to get longer and longer, until it snaked its way to the front door at about 20 people deep.   The drinks kept coming, one after another.  I made them, begrudgingly at first, and handed them off with nary a smile.  I realized that I was not my typically jovial self, but you know what?  Tough patooties.  I had decided that I was tired and grouchy, and that was how it was going to be.  So there.

Now, normally the long line will diminish after a few minutes and then build back up again.  But on this day, there was no break.  The long line never went away.  It only seemed to grow exponentially, until people were waiting outside the front door just to get their morning fix.  I stole a glance at my four coworkers, who were all doing the best they could to keep this thing from spiraling out of control.  But nothing seemed to stop the people from pouring in.  The store was turning into a zoo!  I had to laugh.  The whole situation suddenly seemed absurd, and I began to smile. 

Next thing I knew, I began conversing with everyone while I was performing my tasks at the bar.   You know, I started to do my job the way I always should.  Who cares how tired I felt, I needed to kick it into high gear.  I engaged with people who were waiting several minutes for their drinks, and to my surprise, they seemed OK with the longer-than-usual wait.  I kept apologizing to the customers as I handed them their caffeinated concoctions, and found that not one person complained.  Instead, many actually complimented us!  They marveled at how fast they got thru the line, and wished me a great weekend as they took off for their final day of the workweek. 

I became aware that my demeanor had miraculously gone from sour to vibrant.  I was smiling from ear to ear and enjoying the morning without having done anything to alter my mood.  Well, maybe I did one thing:  I forgot that I was supposed to be grouchy.  There was simply too much going on, and I could only concentrate on what was happening in front of me.  One person at a time Paul, I encouraged myself.  The line isn't going anywhere, so you know what?  Relax into the chaos.  And that is exactly what I did. 

One look around revealed that I was not the only one who had adopted this philosophy.  All of my coworkers had smiles, and were complimenting each other on how well we were holding up considering the onslaught of people.  The energy of the store was palpable.  The din of laughter and conversation was completely drowning out the background music.  It didn't seem to matter anymore how quickly the drinks were being made.  What mattered most was that every single person in the room seemed to be enjoying the moment.

After about 3(!) hours of this, I took my break.  When I returned to the floor, the steady stream of customers continued, albeit at a much slower pace.  Our whole crew, taking advantage of the pause in the action, was laughing and congratulating each other on a job well done.  But the more we reminisced about the stampede of customers we had just endured, the more tired I seemed to get.  I began to wish that all of the people waiting in line would disappear, and NOW.  After all, hadn't I just helped about 400 of them in only a few short hours?  What more did they want from me, my blood?  No longer did I feel pride for making it through an exceptional morning rush.  The grouchiness had returned.

It started to get busy again, and I was forced to stop reliving the past and get back to concentrating on the task at hand.  Help the people, Paul, and do it with a smile, I told myself.  One customer at a time.  Slowly but surely, the irritability disappeared and my energy came back.  I stopped talking about how exhausted I was, and began to relax.  And that is when I saw clearly what had been happening all day long.  I was in control of what kind of day it was going to be.  Isn't that always the case though?  Well, yes.  Then why would I ever choose to have a bad day?  Rhetorical question, right? 

I suppose I must remain vigilant no matter what the situation.  Remember who has the control at all times.  It only takes one smile to turn the day around.  Stay fluid.  Relax into the chaos, Paul.  And don't worry if for some odd reason, you make the choice to be miserable.  You can always choose again.