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Observe the YouTube rant that got a Starbucks employee fired
By Jeff MillsSeptember 22nd, 2011, 2:00 pmComments (13)
Twenty-five-year-old Christopher Cristwell was recently fired from his job at the Starbucks in Chowchilla, California for posting a YouTube video of himself playing guitar and singing about his frustrations working as a barista. It was obviously a cathartic exercise for the Icelandic-born Cristwell, but his stereotyping of coffee orders by race some may find offensive, and you learn more than you probably need to know about being on the other side of the counter.
Cristwell posted the video back in July, but after it was picked up by a popular Starbucks blog last week, some corporate bigwigs caught wind of it, and Cristwell was history. He insists that the ditty was intended to be satire, and says:
"They were really cool about it. The regional manager complimented me on my creative ability — not on that specific song — and then asked me why I did it. They were really trying to find out about my intent behind the videos."
The video started drawing attention after it was posted to the front page of StarbucksGossip.com, and was subsequently featured on national news websites. Cristwell is of course hopeful that the recognition will lead to something in the singer-songwriter area, but perhaps checking out one of those James Taylor instructional videos and sticking with his EMT studies would be more the ticket as of now. He went on to record a follow-up video, uploaded on Tuesday, in which he expressed his fondness and appreciation for his colleagues, but also reverted to getting his still-festering grievances off his chest about those annoying customers.
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Commentarium (13 Comments)
Not very talented, and kinda a douche.
I would never work that hard for $9 or whatever they get paid.
hilarious!!!!
He is incredibly untalented, and ridiculously unfunny. Heaven forbid you should actually have to make customers the drinks they're paying $30 for. It's amazing how the other millions of customer service workers manage to get through their days.
$30? Were you drunk when they charged you that much? Or are you one of those generous souls who picks up something for everyone in the office when you go there?
There are Starbucks blogs?!??!?!?!?!?
People who hate people should not work in service industries. It makes them crazy and it routinely fucks up our day. I realize there aren't a lot of openings for singer- songwriter right now, but maybe something in the way of warehouse work is available?
Believe me a career dealing with the public can make *anyone* hate people.
Absolutely. And all the people screaming "you'd feel differently if you worked there" are just as ridiculous. I hate when I'm having an awful day, and on top of everything my check-out guy or barista feels the need to be rude as well. Everyone's worked crappy service jobs at some point or another, most of us are just not entitled enough to think we're too good for the job. There may be annoying customers at your place of business, but I'm willing to bet that you have been an annoying customer to someone as well.
You work at Starbucks because you have the skills set of someone who should work at Starbucks.
You can project your frustration on to customers who treat you like you work at Starbucks, but that's probably because you work at Starbucks.
If you're too good to work at Starbucks and write songs and rant about how you're too good to work at Starbucks, but you also work at Starbucks, guess what? You're not who you think you are. You work at Starbucks. Embrace it.
I find this to be absolutely amazing. Freedom of speech is a beautiful thing and the "outside world" has very little idea what it is like to be at the bottom of the chain working for this company. The talented young man vented and created a song that baristas can sigh and laugh at, and return to work the next day as they get pummeled with unrealistic demands from the corprates above them and the few (yes few) but extremely out of line and disrespectful costumers that find their way in the doors. I get that the race thing makes it a company liability, and as this artist went public with a song he probably could have gotten away with just singing to his friends privately, I understand the termination. I do have to say though...every lower level employee with this company can relate to this song 100% guaranteed, and that’s who he made it for. It is a venting rant presented as a creative, comical song and I wish only the best for this guy. Thank you for saying what is on the minds of thousands of hard working baristas. :)
I was a Starbucks barista for about two years during college, and I have to admit everything he sang rang true... he pretty much just posted on YouTube what most many people who work there for a while think but may not say out loud. I also liked my job and think that aside from the crappy pay, Starbucks was a good company to work for. It seems like this guy felt the same, even after getting fired. It can be really frustrating though when people can't be arsed to be civil for five seconds to get their coffee... though I suppose it's partially the caffeine deprivation :) But seriously, I don't come into your place of work and act like a douche to you for no reason.
It's also annoying when people assume that because you work in a service job, you must be an idiot who isn't capable of anything better (see "Guess what!"'s comment above). Most of the people I worked with were fellow students (some in grad school), immigrants who spoke several languages and carved out a life despite tough circumstances, and otherwise interesting, intelligent, caring, and fun people. It was nice to be able to chat about socialism with a Gambian refugee or the chapter on frontal lobe functioning I read for one of my classes earlier during slow times. Though it's been years, I still keep in touch with many to this day. Most of us without trust funds have to "do our time" in the service industry at some point, but that doesn't make a person less intelligent or less human. I just wish more people would be cognizant of that.
Suck it up, people can be dissatisfied at any job that they are at. The problem happens when you have an air of superiority, that you feel you do not "need to care" or that you don't "need to do your job". Because it is too low for you, right? But what did they hire you for?
Oh well, problem solved. :)