Getting to work at The Lobby location in the McDougal building gave me a chance to experience downtown Lubbock in a new way
While many people consider themselves to be coffee enthusiasts, most have probably not spent time working in coffee shops to learn the craft.
Many in the industry are likely to tell you coffee is as much a craft and an art as anything–it takes time and patience to learn the art of coffee.
For nearly two years, I have been working in the coffee industry; for most of that time, I have also been a full-time student.
Since being in the industry I have met people from all walks of life with a multitude of career aspirations. From authors to engineers and everything in-between.
In my opinion, what makes the coffee industry unique is the people.
A lot of the coffee industry is about community and the relationships that form between customers and baristas.
Over the past two years, regular customers have become close friends through the relationship formed when I was behind bar.
Many of our customers stop by on their way to work in the mornings and choose to start their day with a cup of our coffee. Being the thing that gets people excited to leave the house for work is special.
When customers pick our product every day it makes all of our employees proud, and we feel the impact we have on our customers’ day.
On and off bar, the shop I work at is my office, my reading den, my home away from home (Photo by Gabrielle Keith)
I find coffee to be unique in this regard. At a bar, people generally go toward the end of their day to unwind or blow off steam. Coffee shops are the place people go to set the tone of the day and get things started on the right foot.
While the job can be stressful and exhausting, it has given me a sense of satisfaction to be part of something greater than myself.
Some of the people I work with have chosen to be in coffee as their careers because of a love for the craft. Others are in the industry as a way to make extra cash to pay bills.
While the shifts can be tough and exhausting, the reward of knowing it has been an honest day of hard work making other people’s day better is well worth it.
In my two years, I experienced firsthand the changes that occurred in the food service industry during the pandemic.
For a coffee shop focused on built on customers going to the shop, shutting down indoor dining and switching to pick-up only was a dramatic change.
Also, for a coffee shop near Tech campus, the pandemic meant a dramatic decline in student patrons who make up a large portion of the customer base.
As quarantine continued, the community of local regulars came together and helped the shop survive. Some spend hundreds of dollars on gift cards, others simply kept coming to enjoy our product in whatever form was available.
Making it through the toughest parts of quarantine was difficult and some of us had concern for our jobs, but when the community came together to help us through, it gave us all hope to make it through.
Knowing that I am part of a community that helps one another is one of the most fulfilling things I have been a part of.
About barrettbergez
