For many workers at Starbucks in New York City, the worst part of their jobs may not be the hordes of demanding tourists. Or the irritation of making ever-more-complex skim Frappuccinos and green tea lattes. Or the unflattering elf hats that some baristas have been asked to wear even before Thanksgiving.
It is having to serve as janitors for the city’s de facto public toilets.
Now, it seems, some of these baristas have had enough.
Tired of customers — and noncustomers — leaving bathrooms messy or worse, they started to lock them at some Starbucks, including one on 45th Street near Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan. Up went signs marked “Employees Only.”
The revolt seemed to reflect a discontent that lurks among the preternaturally cheerful barista corps.