“Every single Thursday, I quit something.” – Bob Goff

I have been thinking all week about how to write this, and Bob’s words have been going through my head. “What can you quit today?” I have been feeling this day approaching for a few months, but now that it’s here, it isn’t any easier to put these thoughts down on paper. (or on the computer screen)

It’s Thursday.

So I’m going to quit something.

And that something…

Is Starbucks.

After 14 years, I am walking away. Turning in my green apron. Saying goodbye to free coffee, cheap healthcare, flexible hours, and triple filtered water. But I’m also saying goodbye to so much stress, shifts that are impossible to get everything done, always feeling like I’m a failure, being yelled at by terrible customers about…COFFEE. I’m saying goodbye to cleaning drains, trash runs, Frappuccinos, what size…what size…what SIZE???, 4 am alarms, syrups all over my arms and face and dripping down my leg.

Coco said it best today when we were talking about leaving. “I really just want a job that doesn’t involve windex.”

Yep.

That’s what I want.

So I put in my notice. Saturday is my very last shift. When I started at Starbucks in 2004, it was a different company. A company that was about customers, and community, and loyalty, friendship and great coffee, and connections. Now it isn’t. I miss the “good old days”. The days when I could know 100 customers in a row, their names, and their drinks. We used to test each other to see who could get the most. I definitely made it to 100 or more on multiple occasions. I miss opening SO many days in a row that we thought we were going to die. Doing shots (of espresso) to try to keep ourselves from falling over. Closing at 11 and playing darts at the bar until it closed at 2am. A store that was a family. People I worked with who knew everything about me, who came over for dinner, who called when we weren’t working together just to chat. When we went out for lunch or shopping, we knew everyone. People would pay for our food, come over and give us hugs, yell across the grocery store “hey honey look its our Starbucks people!”

But it hasn’t been that lately. It hasn’t been that for a while. It has been draining me and I am so relieved that it is coming to an end.

I won’t miss the drive through times. I won’t miss Frappuccinos. Happy hour. (which goes from 3-close and no one is happy so WHY is it called HAPPY HOUR??) I won’t miss very much.

But…

I will miss people. Some friends I’ve made. It was a great company for me to work for, for a long time. I learned a LOT. I grew up.

So now, I am pursuing other things. I’m going to finish my book. (books!…yeah I started another one) I am doing social & digital media as an independent consultant. I am going to make my house an air bnb (come stay!) I am just trying to figure out what my adult job is and where I want to go!

It is exciting.

It is terrifying.

But I can’t wait.

And

Since it is Thursday.

I QUIT!