Stereotypes Of Starbucks Ethnography

Claire Lantermans Champion KW Composition 03/04/2024 Starbucks Ethnography “Approximately 5.5 million American teenagers from 16 to 19 years old were a part of the U.S. workforce as of May 2022” (Caldera). These teens are in high school and a part of different extracurricular activities outside of high school. I am one of those teens. I am a 17 year old Junior and I work at the Cedar Rapids North Target. As an employee at this location for nine months, I have experienced many different situations and emotions such as stress and anxiety, along with discrimination, and falling under stereotypes. Working at such a high pace and high intensity job, I have learned to withhold my emotions and persevere through difficult shifts. I am an avid worker

On a daily basis, there will be a handful of guests who come in wanting more than we can give them, therefore the guest will become upset or try to blame us for this problem. This is a stereotype of a Starbucks customer, cranky and wanting a complicated drink. This, however, is not what I see because the majority are nice and respectful. When talking about the crowd in Starbucks, “this group of teens that cruises into Starbucks every afternoon around 4:00 p.m. might not be quite as scary as an actual street gang, but that doesn't mean they aren't a little intimidating” (Bustos). Most of the guests that I serve are teenage girls either with their friends or boyfriend, which usually concludes with the “Strawberry Refresher” and for the boyfriend, a “Caramel Ribbon Crunch”. Then again, some just ordered our plain black coffee. When I hear this, I expect to turn around and see a man over the age of 50 with wrinkles and glasses. Working in food service, I have to make orders and recipes to fit the guests allergies or preferences. If the drink tastes different than what they ordered, then the guest will come up and demand a different