Questions Not To Ask Your Starbucks Barista About Howard Schulz
Howard Schultz Image by Getty Images
When former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz announced his presidential aspirations and began making the media rounds, the Internet reacted none-too-positively. The corporate hive at Starbucks headquarters was then forced to update its employee handbook, so all the hapless venti-stirring baristas would know how to respond to those pesky political questions.
As the Huffington Post discovered, a memo recently went out to Starbucks employees, instructing them on what to do should someone ask about Schultz’s politics.
No, Starbucks is not selling copies of “From the Ground Up,” Schultz’s new manifesto (which Starbucks baristas get 50% off on). No, your barista is unaware of what Schultz’s intentions are in the upcoming election. Should a customer begin to voice an aggressive opinion, the barista should make clear that “our goal is simply to create a warm and welcoming space where we can all gather, as a community, over great coffee.”
Shira Feder is a writer. She’s at [email protected] and @shirafeder
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $325,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
