Starbucks employee Grant Baucom stopped by his workplace on his day off to order a drink. After his co-workers recognized him from his order—a venti iced chai latte “with 6.5 pumps of chai”—one asked him to come into work.
“There’s five of us here,” she told Baucom. “Three people called off.” Multiple employees proceed to ask him to work that day.
“Ummm… Maybe,” he responds, and then says he’s working the next day. His video received 7.7 million views after it was posted on Dec. 28.
A co-worker also reminded Baucom of a time he “called off” from work, to which he tells her he was “audibly sick.”
The TikTok was received in myriad ways by commenters and other TikTokers.
User @centali duetted the video, stating that the interaction between Baucom and his coworkers was “dystopian.” They also said that Baucom’s co-worker was “manipulating the situation.”
Two TikTokers who identified themselves as the co-workers heard in Baucom’s video commented on @centali’s TikTok saying that the interaction was a joke.
Some commenters on Baucom’s video agreed with his co-workers: that their conversation was comedic. Some sympathized with their understaffing issues.
“Check on your Starbucks worker friends,” commented @becca0_o. “They aren’t okay.”
“They never forget when you call out,” commented @nathanielngn. “Find a way to bring it up whenever.”
“Not Starbucks serving extra tea with your chai,” wrote @tikittytokgrace.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Baucom and @centali via TikTok comments, and Starbucks via email.
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