Working in the evenings can be a nice time, there is a slow wave of customers coming in, it makes it easy to get some closing tasks done, connect with customers that are in the lobby and collect your thoughts after working a long shift. This can get interrupted when a group of guys start to play their rock music loudly and refuse to leave the property.
Shantel, the Coffee Shop on Rainier's manager, has been with the company for about three months now. She came to this store about two weeks ago, and has several encounters with our homeless customers. This one happened around seven in the evening.
There were two men that asked for hot water, they put sugar and cream in it, which most people usually do. They looked kind of suspicious so I was keeping my eye on them, but they weren't bothering anyone, so I wasn't hovering. After about 30 minutes another guy comes in and they start to play rock music really loud. I go up to them and ask them, "Can you please turn the volume down? You can't have it that high if you're in the store." They then proceeded to yell and cuss at me so I asked them to leave and called the police.
They left, but stood out on the patio blocking the front door, I called the police again and told them that they are blocking the front door. About 10 minutes later one of the men started taking paper out of his backpack and ripping and throwing pieces into the bushes on our property. I opened the door and asked him, "Can you stop throwing trash in our bushes?" He immediately walked up to the door and started yelling. I shut the door immediately and asked the supervisor on duty to bring the keys so I could lock the door.
The police came about 15 minutes after that, and the men were talked to and asked to leave the property.
This is one of the more aggressive situations I've encountered with our homeless customer since starting at this store.
Monday, July 22, 2019
Noon/Afternoon
Working at the Coffee Shop on Rainier at two in the afternoon on a weekday is nice. No long lines, not a lot of customers, it gives you time to kind of relax from the previous morning and lunch rushes. But you can't really relax when a homeless customer is banging his head on the outside window of the store.
Salvo has been a barista with the company for two and a half years. He usually works the noon/afternoon shift, which means he starts around 12:30 PM.
It was around 2 PM on a Wednesday afternoon when a man was walking up and down the street next to the store. I could tell he was homeless because he had a blanket wrapped around him. He walked up and down the street for about 5 minutes and then came near the window by the entrance of the store that looks out on to Rainier. He started to slam his head against the glass window, each slam harder than the last.
I was one-man-ing it (which means I was on register, making drinks and getting food), but I immediately ran in the back and got Karen, our manager. She immediately came out and opened the door and asked the man to stop. He aggressively tried opening the door trying to get in the store. Karen tried to keep the door closed but the he was stronger and continued to aggressively try to come in, at one point he was able to open the door wide enough and punch her in the face. A customer got up and helped Karen keep the door shut. Sarah found the keys for the doors and Karen locked them. Sarah was on the phone with the police and they said they would be there as soon as possible.
The man stopped trying to open the door and walked around the perimeter of the store, he came back around to the main entrance door pulled down his pants and pooped on our door and then ran down the street. The police came well after he was gone.
It was around 2 PM on a Wednesday afternoon when a man was walking up and down the street next to the store. I could tell he was homeless because he had a blanket wrapped around him. He walked up and down the street for about 5 minutes and then came near the window by the entrance of the store that looks out on to Rainier. He started to slam his head against the glass window, each slam harder than the last.
I was one-man-ing it (which means I was on register, making drinks and getting food), but I immediately ran in the back and got Karen, our manager. She immediately came out and opened the door and asked the man to stop. He aggressively tried opening the door trying to get in the store. Karen tried to keep the door closed but the he was stronger and continued to aggressively try to come in, at one point he was able to open the door wide enough and punch her in the face. A customer got up and helped Karen keep the door shut. Sarah found the keys for the doors and Karen locked them. Sarah was on the phone with the police and they said they would be there as soon as possible.
The man stopped trying to open the door and walked around the perimeter of the store, he came back around to the main entrance door pulled down his pants and pooped on our door and then ran down the street. The police came well after he was gone.
Morning
Sam has been a barista with the company for about two years.
He usually works opening shifts at the store which means he starts at four in the morning. Here is an encounter he had with a homeless customer on Thursday morning at 5AM.
We had just opened the store, it was pretty slow per usual, we had our regular opening customers come in. Some were sitting in the lobby, sipping their coffee, eating their breakfast, on their phones and enjoying the quietness of the coffee shop.
Around 5 AM, a lady comes in, she seemed kind of suspicious so we are all keeping an eye out in case she tried something. She was quiet at first but then she knocked over a chair by the entrance. She then started going table to table asking customers for money and harassing them. Since panhandling is not allowed in our store, the supervisor on duty went out to the lobby where the women was and politely asked her to leave, she refused and continued to ask customers for money and harass them.
She bumped into the display stand that has bags of different types of whole bean coffee, causing several of the bags to fall on the floor. After bumping into the display, she tried to come into the employee back room. The supervisor on duty stood in front of the swinging door to block her from coming in.
Per coffee shop policy, if you ask someone to leave and they refuse to do so and if they try to trespass into the employee back room, you are to call the police. The supervisor on duty called the police and was giving a description of the woman, "African American female, 5'3"", as the supervisor was giving the description the lady interrupts and yells "I'm not Black I'm Italian and I'm 22!"
After the woman yelled that she stopped trying to come into the employee back room and went back into the lobby and started panhandling and harassing customers again. The police arrived within 10 minutes (which was faster than they usually come) and escorted her out.
He usually works opening shifts at the store which means he starts at four in the morning. Here is an encounter he had with a homeless customer on Thursday morning at 5AM.
We had just opened the store, it was pretty slow per usual, we had our regular opening customers come in. Some were sitting in the lobby, sipping their coffee, eating their breakfast, on their phones and enjoying the quietness of the coffee shop.
Around 5 AM, a lady comes in, she seemed kind of suspicious so we are all keeping an eye out in case she tried something. She was quiet at first but then she knocked over a chair by the entrance. She then started going table to table asking customers for money and harassing them. Since panhandling is not allowed in our store, the supervisor on duty went out to the lobby where the women was and politely asked her to leave, she refused and continued to ask customers for money and harass them.
She bumped into the display stand that has bags of different types of whole bean coffee, causing several of the bags to fall on the floor. After bumping into the display, she tried to come into the employee back room. The supervisor on duty stood in front of the swinging door to block her from coming in.
Per coffee shop policy, if you ask someone to leave and they refuse to do so and if they try to trespass into the employee back room, you are to call the police. The supervisor on duty called the police and was giving a description of the woman, "African American female, 5'3"", as the supervisor was giving the description the lady interrupts and yells "I'm not Black I'm Italian and I'm 22!"
After the woman yelled that she stopped trying to come into the employee back room and went back into the lobby and started panhandling and harassing customers again. The police arrived within 10 minutes (which was faster than they usually come) and escorted her out.
Welcome to the Coffee Shop on Rainier
Hey there coffee drinkers,
I have created this blog to share three stories about interactions we have homeless customers that come to the store I work at. My store is located in South Seattle and gets a lot of foot traffic from all types of customers, high schoolers, parents, people who take the Link Light Rail and more recently homeless customers.
In May of 2016 the Mayor at the time, which was Jay Inslee, decided to close multiple homeless camps in the Seattle area. Many homeless camps were located going north on Rainier Ave South and under the I-5 bridge which was called "The Jungle". Inslee stated that he was closing these areas due how unsafe and unsanitary the areas were, although his reasoning is just, he did not take into consideration how closing those camps meant those people would come into the neighboring areas and find/build homes there. One of the areas where the homeless people come is my store.
Over the past three years, we have had an increase in homeless customers. Some are looking for a place to feel safe and secure, some come in just to get water and some cause situations that are not so pleasant. There are a wide range of homeless customers we tend to get, but at least once a week we have a situation involving a homeless customer where we have to ask them to leave the store and/or call the police.
Here are some situations in which we had to ask them to leave, tell them they were no longer welcomed in our store and had to call the police.
*DISCLAIMER*
I am in no way trying to talk down on the homeless community. Homelessness is an on-going issue that needs to be fixed. I am just sharing situations that have happened at my store.
I have created this blog to share three stories about interactions we have homeless customers that come to the store I work at. My store is located in South Seattle and gets a lot of foot traffic from all types of customers, high schoolers, parents, people who take the Link Light Rail and more recently homeless customers.
In May of 2016 the Mayor at the time, which was Jay Inslee, decided to close multiple homeless camps in the Seattle area. Many homeless camps were located going north on Rainier Ave South and under the I-5 bridge which was called "The Jungle". Inslee stated that he was closing these areas due how unsafe and unsanitary the areas were, although his reasoning is just, he did not take into consideration how closing those camps meant those people would come into the neighboring areas and find/build homes there. One of the areas where the homeless people come is my store.
Over the past three years, we have had an increase in homeless customers. Some are looking for a place to feel safe and secure, some come in just to get water and some cause situations that are not so pleasant. There are a wide range of homeless customers we tend to get, but at least once a week we have a situation involving a homeless customer where we have to ask them to leave the store and/or call the police.
Here are some situations in which we had to ask them to leave, tell them they were no longer welcomed in our store and had to call the police.
*DISCLAIMER*
I am in no way trying to talk down on the homeless community. Homelessness is an on-going issue that needs to be fixed. I am just sharing situations that have happened at my store.
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