I'll never tell...

Good morning… What can I get for you?

If Howard was running this blog, he might say that we were in chapter 5 of a 14 chapter book. Yes, we’ve passed the 50 post/story mark which puts us one-third the way through my commitment to bring you Green Apron Stories…

No, I’m not running out of stuff, and yes, I’m saving the best for last.

I think we need a partner story today. Now this will be a bit of a shock to one partner reader. I think it’s time I come clean. I’ve talked about “the golden child” before, and this partner was one of those children. Nice, funny, hardworking and always willing to help out and do more than expected. I cherished having her as a partner and asked her on several occasions to come with me to other stores. She only had one flaw and I hate to even call it that. She was a bit of a pot-smoker. Never at work, never before work… always after… and on her days off. Now, I’m not one to judge and I always overlooked the rumors.

So this part of the story will shock her when she reads it… I knew all along about your arrest during the Dave Matthews concert. You called me that Saturday night with a story about car problems and it taking a week to get the parts for it. You asked me to fill your shifts and you promised to check in once a day (you only get one in jail, you know)…

Yes… I knew. You were so good that I overlooked it… and I owed you that. I owed you the courtesy of saving face… the fear you must have felt that I would let you go and you would have a mark on your employee record. I didn’t cuz you were good. People make mistakes and your good deeds and loyalty didn’t go unrewarded.

So, you came back to work… I asked about the car…”it’s fine”, you said. You went back to being the outstanding Shift Supervisor that you always were and even better. We never spoke of the incident… ever.

I moved on, you moved on… we crossed paths during a Holiday Helper shift where I specifically volunteered to work with you. We still never spoke of the incident.

Well, I’m coming clean now… I knew… and your buddy Josh ratted you out. I smile every time I think of the story. I’m still your biggest fan… I hope you’re doing well in your current Starbucks store. I’ll never rat you out… I’ll never tell your name… and no one will know that one of the best Starbucks partners around got arrested at the Dave Matthews concert for pot smoking…

Give me a buzz… we can laugh about it over a beer now…

Yes, Pat Nerr is a regular average JOE… and some of you managers out there can probably relate. Don’t worry… it happens to us all. It’s normal… our partners are people. We need to accept that and we need to allow for mistakes to happen... It's all part of creating a great team.

We’ll see you tomorrow for your usual...

Pat Nerr...