A Starbucks employee’s video features a hypothetical response to customers who complain when their location of the national coffee chain is out of ingredients. The viral clip has drawn the attention of fellow baristas who are feeling the pinch of supply chain issues that have plagued the company for much of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the video, user Kaitlin Davis (@kaitlindavisss) shows herself lip-syncing a popular TikTok audio that says, “imagine how tired we are,” paired with a text overlay that reads, “Omg I’m so tired of u guys being out of everything.”
@kaitlindavisss #starbucks #fyp #foryou ♬ Imagine how tired we are – Mo
Some viewers, implying they are or have recently been Starbucks employees, shared their own frustrations with customers who do not understand.
“Yesterday someone looked me in the eye and said, ‘you should really order more white mocha,’ like girl we are TRYING,” one viewer wrote.
“We’ve been out of matcha and blonde espresso for like a week,” another user said. “No joke people are such babies.”
“We’ve been out of White Mocha at my store for weeks and someone came through our drive thru and said, ‘can’t you guys literally just make it?'” another user commented.
Others listed the items their stores were missing, and there was some overlap between them.
“Today my store was out of pumpkin, apple crisp and cold brew when the (product) order never showed up,” a viewer wrote.
“Last week my store ran out of all dairy milks,” another said.
“Today we ran out of nonfat milk, half & half, and heavy cream,” one employee echoed.
The shortages some stores are experiencing have put viewers in specific positions with customers. Some viewers shared the exchanges they have had amid the absence of these ingredients.
“I hit them with the, ‘well, idk what to tell you,’ and they just huff and order something else,” a commenter wrote.
“I have found that just agreeing with them and saying right it’s so ridiculous will make them be nicer to you after,” another said.
“We were out of breakfast sandwiches for like at least two weeks, it got to the point when people would complain we would just say, ‘yeah we’re hungry too,'” a viewer commented.
The Daily Dot reached out to Starbucks via email and to Davis via Instagram direct message for comment regarding the video.
