Can I eradicate World Hunger? Cure Cancer? Solve the Global Warming problem? No, I can't (although I can do my small part). What I can do is pick my battles, which is why I've declared war on Starbucks. Now in case you were not aware of it Starbucks has a policy which discriminates against a select group of their employees, and by having this policy they inadvertently discriminate against me. Maybe I'll make a difference, maybe not, but if nobody ever tried nothing would ever get done around here, so the Cap'n is declaring war on Starbucks.
Because Starbucks forces their employees to cover up their tattoos with clothing, bandages, or even stickers, I feel it would be hypocritical of me to continue giving them my business. So today, instead of going to the Starbucks across the road from my office, I walked a couple of blocks to the closest Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. Then back at my office I stapled the Coffee Bean receipt to my protest letter (for extra weight), and with Coffee Bean drink in hand I delivered my letter to the Starbucks across the road. I apologized to the girls there, told them they were fantastic, that I even said so in the letter, and explained that I was doing this for them as much as for myself.
Starbucks bends over backwards to cater to the individual, and the staff there will make your drink exactly how you like it, regardless of how you like it. But for a company which respects the individuality of the customer, they do not respect the individuality of their employees.
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15 comments:
I find it odd that Starbucks has issues with tattoos, considering their clientele.
here's the plan:
Get a job at startbucks, part time is fine.
get a huge starbucks logo tattooed on your back.
pitch a huge fit when they ask you to cover it up, and then sue for millions for... uhh... something.
win!
I don't want to put Starbucks out of business, just get them to not be hypocrites but show their staff the same respect they show their customers. Their sales are already dropping, so perhaps in their weakened state they'll listen to a (former) customer ;)
So, I don't drink coffee, nor do I have any tattoos. I have no stake in this discussion whatsoever.
I'm wondering how this policy came about. Has it always been like this?
It comes across to me like just one more example of people not using common sense to regulate themselves so "mommy and daddy" in this case Starbucks corporate have to step in with an overarching policy and ruin it for everyone. It may have just been one guy with either "KKK", "ACORN", or "GO GREEN" on the back of his hand that caused this. Starbucks isn't allowed to discipline just the one guy (that wouldn't be politically correct), so they come down on everyone. It's a full circle of stupid.
Back in the Days even Mum told me :Dont get fucking tatoos where they visable, you never get a job that way...
Once again mum was right.
Zepech, our Mums always knew what they were talking about ;)
My tiger is on my upper arm (almost shoulder) for 2 reasons, both somewhat similar to why Yakuza will have full body tattoos that stop at their upper arms.
1 - I want to be able to wear a short-sleeved shirt and still appear respectable around the office.
2- My tattoo is personal. I've put it up here on my Blog, but you'll only see it IRL when I want you to see it, when I choose to show it to you...or when I go to the beach ;)
That's not to say I think tattoos aren't respectable, but it depends on your work environment. It would be rare for a lawyer to show up in court with full sleeve tattoos, and the Judge might tell him to cover up or be held in contempt, but for a coffee barrista to be told to cover up just doesn't make sense (IMO). I could understand if the tattoos equated to Hate Speech, because you don't want to create a hostile work environment, but at some point you have to differentiate between an employee putting up a calendar of the Olympic athletes versus a calendar of bikini clad babes. One could be considered acceptable, one not, and tattoos can easily be distinguished the same way, although it's a fine line you'd be walking when differentiating between the two.
Thanks for the comments, everyone. Much appreciated.
It is your choice, but I don't think it is worth to go to war with Starbucks for.
I think most customers (I see casual business people all the time) will be scared when they see tattoos (especially Yakuza style).
The smart way would be to allow individual store managers to make the decision instead of corporate policy, so they can base their decision to hire good people with tattoo instead of street corner punk.
But it will be easier for some store managers to say "Sorry I can't hire you it is our company policy" instead of "Nope I don't like your tattoo".
Your crusade seems honorable to me John. I have one tattoo that is also personal to me and I made sure to have it placed high enough on my left shoulder to avoid having to cover it up for any professional reason.
What confuses me the most about this policy is how commonplace tattoos are in todays society. It's not like we're living in the 50s where only bikers and their "old ladies" have tatoos depicting death and destruction.
Bughunter is probably correct by stating that it was one douche with a swastika or other offensive/disturbing that changed the entire company policy. I'm curious to see what their policy is on customers who have offensive tattoos and come into the store. If skinhead Jim wants to buy a latte with extra froth, will the manager refuse service? My guess is no.
What Starbucks is doing is common at many restaurants where I live. They make guys who have earrings either remove them, or -this makes no sense- put bandaids over their entire earlobe.
I predict the SB policy will eventually change. I mean come on, Elvis was censored on the Ed Sullivan show for shaking his hips, and look what we have today. Until that day, keep fighting the good fight sir. I respect your decision to not only stop shopping there, but also bring your complaint to the store in writing. Were you Martin Luther in a past life? ;-)
For every time you do not go, I will go an extra time. I do not like seeing tattoos, and it makes me feel better knowing that Starbucks feels the same way.
Anon, just as an FYI, you'll need to make at least one if not two extra trips per weekday for me. You can have the weekends off but it was not uncommon for me to start my day with a coffee then get a second cup after lunch. That's a Soy Latte, btw, not your regular brewed coffee.
Thank you for the valuable information. I will scale up my coffee intake accordingly.
It's refreshing to get an Anon poster who disagrees in such a polite manner. Normally I have to resort to deleting anonymous comments because they add little (if anything) to the discussion, so thank you for your civility, it is much appreciated.
Great post Cap'n. I for one have no problems with tattoos. As long as they are not hurtful (I.E. Charles Manson swastika forehead tattoo). I look at tattoos as a form of art as I have a few myself. I have no problem with tattoos being shown in a retail/customer service type environment. I work in this industry and have worked in a small retail store face to face with customers, and the fact of the matter is that people are still old fashioned.
Now I don't know if this was a policy SB started from the get go but this policy could have started because of customer complaints. If you get a couple of old fashioned customers complaining about a tattoo (even if it is a memorial or a tribute to a new child) there are people out there that will complain. When people complain the management must do something about it to make sure the customers keep coming back.
When I worked in a retail showroom, my easiest tattoo to show was my daughters name under her footprint. If I wore a short sleeve polo shirt usually my daughters name might pop out from under the sleeve and I actually had 1 or 2 customers tell me that it wasn’t very professional for it to show. They didn’t complain or anything but just disagreed with it. I politely stated that it was not shown on purpose and that I understand that they did not agree with tattoos and all was good. But what is funny is that a lot of the time after the customer makes the statement they would then ask what the tattoo was of and when I showed them my daughter’s footprint from when she was born along with my grandfathers initials in angel wings as her guardian angel they also stated it was a very nice tattoo and they apologized for saying anything.
I am all for the fight you are fighting and hope that it does some good. The world might be a better place if people start to realize that tattoos do not mean what they used too. I have tattoos and I’m not a biker or in a gang. All but one of my tattoos is a tribute to either my kids or my grandfather. People need to quit profiling. Just because one group of people have tattoos, dress up goth, or ride skateboards doesn’t mean they are bad people, troublemakers, freaks. They are just more in touch with who they are and prefer to not conform to how people believe they should look or act.
Tattooed/Pierced employees are the best. A lot of people won't hire them - in my experience they appreciate an employer who gives them the freedom of their expression and tend to work harder.
From the customer vantage point, however, it can "offend" some clients. And we all know the customer is infalliably right.
Right?
Should be left up to the Manager/location. Some areas would probably attract more customers to the location - while one in an uppity do area during business hours it may deter. Although, after 7pm, that same area may attract a more reasonable clientele. (And by reasonable, they just want a great hot drink and can buy one without judgement).
Shows the mindset that it isn't always what you buy, but who you buy from.
(My tat is on my upper thigh, do be displayed at my pleasure. Hidden in swim trunks (I don't wear speedo sorry) shorts and pants. My personal choice, no issues with those that prefer to have them in view.
Are you serious??? Cap, you need to come to Oregon. We have tattooe'd pierced, you name its all over the place, and most of the time people are protesting new starbucks being put up. Not that they aren't everywhere anyway, we just have a lot of other options right next to starbucks. you maybe go to Tigard where its retail landia and there's not too much of an option but when I did work at the biggest mall in the state, there was a tea shop full of pierced tattooed dread locked hippie hipsters not 4 stores away from Starbucks.
ps: this is Amber/Prism
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