A Starbucks worker caused a bit of a wave on TikTok when she posted a video about a customer’s order. The video was titled ‘Watch me make a grown adult their 6 am milkshake.’ The video was deemed so abrasive that it has since been taken down. It wasn’t removed before the lovely following on TikTok managed to snap all sorts of screenshots and clips from it.
Twitter user @michaelcarrotu posted a screenshot on 22 August. The shot was of a TikTok a Starbucks worker posted a video that’s getting way too much unorthodox attention. The original has since been deleted but not before it caused a stir. The barista is making an everyday item – a Frappuccino. A menu item that is ordered daily.
“Watch me make a grown adult their 6am milkshake,” the caption reads
Nine simple words paired with a till snap of the unimpressed-looking Starbucks worker garnished over 34,000 retweets, 5,500 quote tweets and nearly 600,000 likes. These statistics are on a single tweet. Nestled among other viral topics and discussions related to other social media platforms.
“POV: Starbucks workers when they have to do their literal job,” reads a TikTok by @realbiggobruh showing the original clip stitched with a sarcastic reaction. A clip that seems to mirror the vibes of many other TikTikers has been liked 1.4 million times. Reposts of it received 37,900 upvotes on Reddit, and a further 87,000 likes on Twitter.
People had some harsh opinions about the Starbucks worker’s attitude
People were unimpressed with the Starbucks worker’s blatant dislike for doing their job and in true social media style, had a lot to say. “If you’re just going to complain about people ordering beverages maybe you shouldn’t work at a store that’s 98% beverages?” asked one Twitter user.
“6 am milkshake sounds like self-care,” said another Twitter user. “This confuses me so bad like what if bro just got off the nightshift and is rewarding themselves?” said another commenter, this time on TikTok. “Saying ‘making a grown adult their milkshake at 6 am’ implies the grown adult is doing something wrong for wanting a milkshake,” noted another TikTok user.
“Every time you want a milkshake is a good time for a milkshake. It’s not a ‘specific’ time of day food I think,” said one person on Reddit, adding that the wording might be more condescending “than it is intended though.” As one can see, the general consensus was that the Starbucks worker was lazy to do their actual job.
Read: Students Struggled To Focus In Class, So Now This Teacher Makes Them Smoothies For Breakfast
“If a guy wants his Java Chip Frappuccino at 6 a.m. what’s the problem.” Said another user in a TikTok stitch. “I feel like the next time I go to Starbucks, I’m going to have this thought in the back of my head that the worker is going to judge me.” At this stage, it seems pretty clear: people are peeved when others complain about doing their jobs.
There were a few users who came to the defense of the Starbucks worker
Some took to the comments section on both Twitter and TikTk in defense of the Starbucks worker’s video. They pointed out that people will always complain about their jobs and that everyone does it sometimes. They also suggested that she was completely entitled to do so, expressing herself for her own mental health.
“Why are people so triggered over this??” tweeted one person, defending the original poster. “frapps are basically glorified milkshakes lmao. and everyone has bad days and has the right to complain about their jobs! at the end of the day it was just a joke and a girl venting about how tired she was and people were being so hateful..”
“People in the replies failing to understand that frappuccinos and milkshakes are HELL to make and if it’s the first thing you’re being asked at 6am you’re gonna be annoyed,” said another Twitter user who identified herself as an “ex Starbucks employee.” “Huh? What part of ‘watch me make’ says that she’s complaining about making it? It’s perfectly okay to judge someone buying a milkshake at 6am,” said one Redditor.
Consequences caught up with the barista, as their friend posted on Reddit
Unfortunately, social media has made it impossible for employees to hide from their employers when they choose to rant online. On August 21, a Redditor posted to a well known subreddit with the caption “Someone I know was just fired for posting on TikTok.” The no mega-viral post had reached their friend’s employer.
“My friend called me crying today because, after her entire shift, she was told by a proxy supervisor that this was their last shift,” reads the Reddit post, which has been upvoted 1,200 times. “She posted a video that went viral a few weeks back that was a light-hearted jest about serving people milkshakes in the morning.” The Redditor also said their friend “loves her job and never knew it would upset people” and that she’s seen much of the criticisms lobbed in her direction.”
They also said that she deleted the TikTok after “receiving threats and told her manager immediately.” In all fairness, it looked like she was served her sentence already. “Her manager said she wouldn’t be fired over it, and there’s nothing to worry about,” wrote the Redditor. “But just a few weeks after the TikTok original posting, she was fired without a hint that it was coming.”
According to Starbucks Social Media Guidelines for Canada and U.S. Partners, they have a strict guide in place
According to Starbucks Social Media Guidelines for Canada and U.S. Partners, its employees (which they call “partners”) are asked to follow a list of do’s and don’ts. Under the “do this” section, it reads: “Show respect for others’ opinions, even when you might not agree. And no trolling, bullying or flaming – there’s no winner in that game.”
It also mentions that “The internet doesn’t have a ‘delete’ key,” adding that “Anything you share on the internet can take on a life of its own and be hard to remove once it’s out there, so please think before you share something.” When reached out to for comments on the incident, a Starbucks spokesperson issued a fair statement.
“Our partners love connecting with customers through the craft of coffee, delivering the Starbucks experience that we all have come to love. The sentiment in the screenshot is not indicative of what our partners and customers experience every day in our stores.” Fair it seems when an employee clearly managed to tarnish a popular brand.
Sources
- “Starbucks barista’s viral video about making ‘a grown adult their 6am milkshake’ sparks debate.” Today. Joseph Lamour. August 24, 2022
- TikTok. a6ammilkshake.