So I wanna ask y’all: is it normal in coffee shop culture that the person taking orders has to finish making every drink themselves, and if they’re slow they get scolded all unfriendly? I’m so confused lol

I’m 34, been a barista at a small shop in Samut Prakan for almost three years, but I’ve only been at this place for nearly two months so I’m still adjusting. Some mornings I start at 7:25, some nights I don’t get home until after 10pm. I always have a watch and a pen on me ’cause I gotta write down the queue and special requests. We don’t have part-timers during peak, so the job’s kinda brutal. I take orders, manage the queue, make the basic coffees, and help with bakery stuff some days (mixing the dough takes like 15–20 mins per tray).

The problem: a new boss set a rule that whoever takes the orders must make every drink before serving — you can’t pass the drink to the other machine person to help. So if a customer orders lots of different items at once or super detailed stuff, like syrup with half sugar, half a cup, less ice, wants it chilled but don’t touch the wet machine (so many specifics), the order-taker has to make everything — lattes with pretty milk art, hot mochas, everything. OK, I get it if one person’s busy, but when the queue gets long the boss walks up and complains why it’s slow, why didn’t you call for help, why didn’t you manage the queue better, then shuts up. No guidance, just instant deductions like a grade cut.

Some customers sit a long time taking photos of their coffee before we take it out, so we try to set the cup up all pretty, use little spoons and a spare plastic cup sometimes. The boss immediately glares and says “so slow” with zero instruction. It makes me feel really bad and weird, like, seriously.

Co-workers say it’s a new rule to keep a consistent standard, but when it’s busy or trainees aren’t fluent yet it just becomes blaming the person operating the machines only. We think standards are important, but if there’s no training, no task distribution, and they only criticize, isn’t that unfair? Or am I overthinking it?

I don’t hate the job — I love the smell of coffee and I’m proud when my latte art turns out good — but some nights I get home after 10pm and keep thinking, why is it this stressful? The boss’s short scolding in front of customers sticks with me. Like, I’m trying, you know. Nobody tells me what to improve.

Other shops’ kids say just hang on a couple months and the boss will give in, but I’ve seen people get scolded and quit within two weeks, so I’m getting scared about whether I can take it or should find a place with better systems. If they tell me to move stations I’ll think long and hard.

Have you guys experienced this? Should I talk to the boss openly, or just work faster and take the hits for now and wait for the complaints to die down? Or am I just weak lololol please give me advice T_T

P.S. Some days I really want someone to manage the queue for real, not just blame the person making drinks. Teamwork, right?