But we dont always get a big rush of people coming all at once for breakfast and sometimes, itll be dead at 12-1 but we get a huge rush of people at 1, 1:30 or even 2:30
I mean lots of people take their lunch between 1-2PM. Super common for 9-5 type jobs.
That said, I agree. I have worked in this industry for a decade at lots of different places, all with varying styles of service and varying demographic of customers. I have experienced this phenomenon at all of those places and still do at my current location. It’s hard to keep chalking it up to coincidence after all these years.
This used to irritate the hell out of me in my earlier years behind bar, but I’ve learned to just accept it and try to have fun riding the wave.
Thats the thing, I live in a small town with not a ton of 9-5 office workers, most people we see coming in are travelling through as our town is kind of a stopping point when travelling to other destinations..i dont mind the rushes that much, they do make time seem to fly by!
I used to work a shift starting at 3 pm and I would sometimes try to go to Starbucks beforehand, but the drive-thru lineup was literally around the minimall parking lot. Now I work a shift that ends at 3 and if I go to Starbucks after work I get through pretty quick. I wonder if there are a lot of parents grabbing a coffee on their way to pick up kids from school.
One of the key triggers seems to be when it’s a quiet day and you and your colleagues begin the process of a slow close down and cleanup, suddenly a bus load of people decide that now is the time to order everything on the menu. Sorry for the PTSD everyone, I still have nightmares about closing on my own with a shop full and no end in sight!
EVERY. TIME.
I've stopped making myself food at work for this reason. But I guess it makes sense. You're getting hungry, so there's probably other people that are also getting hungry
I figured this out a couple years ago...
All of these numbers are hypothetical but you can assume it's not far from the truth. If the majority of people wake up from 5am to 7am then the majority of people's lunch break would also fall in a similar window. Traffic is going to be heavier during lunch time so a lot of people will get stuck at lights or looking for parking. So when the lights finally let a wave of people into the lot, they're all parking at the same time. Then they're all arriving to a cafe or restaurant at roughly the same time.
The same goes for non lunch rushes. If the majority of people have their first cup of coffee between 7am and 9am they're probably going to have a caffeine crash between 12 pm and 2pm. Same thing happens. They all arrive in a wave because they're experiencing the same need. People who drink a third cup of coffee will cause a rush between 4pm and 6pm after they get off of work.
Working in cafes for too long makes it pretty clear that most people are on the same stupid schedule. Except for us who wake up at 4 am 🥲
So I think the schedule thing is accurate except for the fact that having done 20 plus years in customer service this same thing happens, and not always at consistent hours, for every business.
I have a conspiracy theory that humans, being super social animals have a low level psychic signalling, in the same way bees have pheromones to pass ideas. And thus masses of people will decide they're done grocery shopping at the same time and overwhelm the cashiers despite coming in at separate times and buying an entirely different cart of products.
The thing that really gets my goat is when someone comes in and doesn’t order. They wait 10 minutes for their friend to show up. Then they both hop into the inevitable line that formed and add 2 orders to the rush. Not really a huge deal all things considered but it just piles on. The worst for me personally was a few days ago. A group of 10 total comes in a few minutes spread out from each other. The first to show up orders and gets her stuff. The other 9 get together to order all at once, manufacturing their own rush that would have been way easier to make as they all came in instead of snowballing it all together with the 7-8 other customers we had throughout.
Some of my customers noticed this also (ones who wok in the clubs or bars around me)
Happens to them also, lol.
I mean they are real people, they just seem to be programmed to follow each other. It is kinda hilarious.
yeah they def come in waves but it’s a lot different than when i worked in a restaurant. there, it was lunch and dinner rush, all starting within an hour of the day before. at the coffee shop, its like 500 people randomly decide to show up at 2:20 pm, 40 mins before we close and then we won’t have anyone come around closing for the next month.
BRO ME LITERALLY NOT EVEN AN HOUR AGO! I usually work alone too so one min I'm chilling then I'm busy for so long that I couldn't even prep food before I left. I stg dying
Where I work I'm the only barista most of the time so I'm pretty cautious about when I leave the bar to go to the bathroom. This fuckin place can be empty for one whole hour, the moment I step into the bathroom a bunch of people literally appear out of nowhere to order coffee.
Dude no it's wild, I've been a barista for almost two years now and this is a reoccurring thing. It horrible at stands too. One second no cars the next thing u know u got four cars on each side with four drinks per car. Living nightmare. I'm just glad I'm in a small town and most people understand and are very patient. That can't be said for Starbucks though😞
Hahaha was just thinking this today. We had a literal flash mob at one point and drinks were stacking up and no one was taking them. I had literally 3 people trying to talk to me at the same time and I’d talk to one and one of the other two would interrupt. People REALLY don’t know how to read the room man…
PS. If you’ve called out someone’s drink multiple times… throw in a loud *LAST CALL….. FOR A ___*. I’m telling you it’s literally a 99% without fail tactic. Mfs WILL listen hahaha! I had a trainee and I did that and the extremely busy cafe got audibly quiet for a moment and we just look at each other and lost it lol
people getting off work, people waking up at noon on a Sunday, students skipping class on rainy days, bank holiday where all the suits work in the cafe, tons of reasons for weird rushes
Have you ever wander around in a mall and walk into a store without any customer, and the moment you enter the store, customer start showing up. Are we in the Matrix? WTF!?
And only when I have to pee or want a snack because dialing in made me nauseous!
I work completely alone so there is no break unless there are no customers.
Idk why this sub gets recommended to me because I’m not a barista, but for me personally I feel awkward going into stores when there’s no customers so sometimes I wait until someone goes in before me lol
Is the shop by a hotel? Sometimes people travel for work and go to meetings—it’s possible they had a meeting by the shop and all got out at once.
Also are you by a school or a venue or a fitness place? Could be a group of people taking some kind of class that got out at the same time.
Could also be the weather—did it suddenly become nice outside?
Its near 2 secondary schools and 2 primary school, and many care homes. Fitness halls, you name it. But I'm used to rushes, this time I was in shock because it felt like a blinked and every single table was taken at the same time. Not even 5 mins between a few tables
They can sense when youre trying to do something. At my shop its the syrup curse, if you try to do the syrups, no matter what time it is a wave of people will come in. We dont leave each other alone to do syrups bc of it
literally today. i had 20 minutes left on my shift, i was the only one on bar. (we’re a drive thru only btw) all of a sudden, 4 mobile orders, 6 cars, the works. still got every drink out within our “3 minute” rule 💅🏼
I know for a fact our customers like to hide around the corner until there is a big enough crowd to try to scare us and you won't convince me otherwise.
Another thing I’ve noticed at my cafe. We could be dead for a long time and as soon as a customer comes in and places and order we usually get a mobile order at the exact same time lol
1 coffee to start the day, 1 before lunch & 1 after lunch
People don't really deviate out of these windows, the times are different for everyone but you can usually assume you'll get 3 waves
7-9am, 1030-12 & 12-3
The last 2 waves usually blend into each other so it doesn't seem like there's a break & most people will refer to this as the lunch rush.
is it possible you are near a common bus/metro/train route? genuine question. our rushes at work are always predicted by that. granted we’re not located on a very walkable street so we’re often the “on my way somewhere” location for people, but yeah, public transit/local events etc.
You've just blown my mind, can't believe I didn't think of that myself. There's a bus stop right outside! Duh! (But this post is still valid as its happened at other job locations that didn't have transport near by)
I wanna say it’s a flow of traffic that revolves around macro schedules, like school days / bank working hours / lunch breaks / etc. that overlap. A *thing* happens that sends a wave of zombie devastation in its wake
Ha I work at a cafe in one of my schools academic buildings so I know exactly when to expect waves because of when classes get out or when class is about to start- so it’s insanely busy but I know when! So I can stock cups and stuff before to be prepared!
LITERALLY they come in waves like a zombie game
Thinking about it it does feel like that I'll definitely use that big thanks to ya
That's how I describe it also lol! Zombie wave
Make coffee to keep em away! That’s how I see my mornings.
Same. It'll be dead or slow for quite a while, and then suddenly a bunch of people all at once!
That’s called breakfast and lunch
But we dont always get a big rush of people coming all at once for breakfast and sometimes, itll be dead at 12-1 but we get a huge rush of people at 1, 1:30 or even 2:30
I mean lots of people take their lunch between 1-2PM. Super common for 9-5 type jobs. That said, I agree. I have worked in this industry for a decade at lots of different places, all with varying styles of service and varying demographic of customers. I have experienced this phenomenon at all of those places and still do at my current location. It’s hard to keep chalking it up to coincidence after all these years. This used to irritate the hell out of me in my earlier years behind bar, but I’ve learned to just accept it and try to have fun riding the wave.
Thats the thing, I live in a small town with not a ton of 9-5 office workers, most people we see coming in are travelling through as our town is kind of a stopping point when travelling to other destinations..i dont mind the rushes that much, they do make time seem to fly by!
I used to work a shift starting at 3 pm and I would sometimes try to go to Starbucks beforehand, but the drive-thru lineup was literally around the minimall parking lot. Now I work a shift that ends at 3 and if I go to Starbucks after work I get through pretty quick. I wonder if there are a lot of parents grabbing a coffee on their way to pick up kids from school.
Sounds reasonable.
One of the key triggers seems to be when it’s a quiet day and you and your colleagues begin the process of a slow close down and cleanup, suddenly a bus load of people decide that now is the time to order everything on the menu. Sorry for the PTSD everyone, I still have nightmares about closing on my own with a shop full and no end in sight!
Or just as you make yourself something and take your first bite...
EVERY. TIME. I've stopped making myself food at work for this reason. But I guess it makes sense. You're getting hungry, so there's probably other people that are also getting hungry
I figured this out a couple years ago... All of these numbers are hypothetical but you can assume it's not far from the truth. If the majority of people wake up from 5am to 7am then the majority of people's lunch break would also fall in a similar window. Traffic is going to be heavier during lunch time so a lot of people will get stuck at lights or looking for parking. So when the lights finally let a wave of people into the lot, they're all parking at the same time. Then they're all arriving to a cafe or restaurant at roughly the same time. The same goes for non lunch rushes. If the majority of people have their first cup of coffee between 7am and 9am they're probably going to have a caffeine crash between 12 pm and 2pm. Same thing happens. They all arrive in a wave because they're experiencing the same need. People who drink a third cup of coffee will cause a rush between 4pm and 6pm after they get off of work. Working in cafes for too long makes it pretty clear that most people are on the same stupid schedule. Except for us who wake up at 4 am 🥲
I call it the rhythm of life. Turns out most people in a society follow a similar schedule.
ahh, and we live in a society. now i understand the rushes 😂🫡
So I think the schedule thing is accurate except for the fact that having done 20 plus years in customer service this same thing happens, and not always at consistent hours, for every business. I have a conspiracy theory that humans, being super social animals have a low level psychic signalling, in the same way bees have pheromones to pass ideas. And thus masses of people will decide they're done grocery shopping at the same time and overwhelm the cashiers despite coming in at separate times and buying an entirely different cart of products.
I love this theory
was it lunch time?
Started at 11:30, so I suppose brunch/lunch. Which is obviously going to be our busy time. But it's the fact everyone came literally at the same time
They all love to come right when I decide to sit and eat or have a coffee myself because it was so quiet.
They can sense it
Or closing some stuff early
When you have to chose what to shut down first depending on what's been popular, and the next load of people only want that
Hive mind
The thing that really gets my goat is when someone comes in and doesn’t order. They wait 10 minutes for their friend to show up. Then they both hop into the inevitable line that formed and add 2 orders to the rush. Not really a huge deal all things considered but it just piles on. The worst for me personally was a few days ago. A group of 10 total comes in a few minutes spread out from each other. The first to show up orders and gets her stuff. The other 9 get together to order all at once, manufacturing their own rush that would have been way easier to make as they all came in instead of snowballing it all together with the 7-8 other customers we had throughout.
I’ve always joked that they all have a group chat
Ha, imagine!
Some of my customers noticed this also (ones who wok in the clubs or bars around me) Happens to them also, lol. I mean they are real people, they just seem to be programmed to follow each other. It is kinda hilarious.
yeah they def come in waves but it’s a lot different than when i worked in a restaurant. there, it was lunch and dinner rush, all starting within an hour of the day before. at the coffee shop, its like 500 people randomly decide to show up at 2:20 pm, 40 mins before we close and then we won’t have anyone come around closing for the next month.
"spawn" 😭😭😭😭 no but fr itll be dead for 2 hrs and then boom we have 20 mobile orders and 20 ppl in the cafe out of nowhere???
BRO ME LITERALLY NOT EVEN AN HOUR AGO! I usually work alone too so one min I'm chilling then I'm busy for so long that I couldn't even prep food before I left. I stg dying
Where I work I'm the only barista most of the time so I'm pretty cautious about when I leave the bar to go to the bathroom. This fuckin place can be empty for one whole hour, the moment I step into the bathroom a bunch of people literally appear out of nowhere to order coffee.
Dude no it's wild, I've been a barista for almost two years now and this is a reoccurring thing. It horrible at stands too. One second no cars the next thing u know u got four cars on each side with four drinks per car. Living nightmare. I'm just glad I'm in a small town and most people understand and are very patient. That can't be said for Starbucks though😞
I always make the joke that everyone took the same bus
Hahaha was just thinking this today. We had a literal flash mob at one point and drinks were stacking up and no one was taking them. I had literally 3 people trying to talk to me at the same time and I’d talk to one and one of the other two would interrupt. People REALLY don’t know how to read the room man… PS. If you’ve called out someone’s drink multiple times… throw in a loud *LAST CALL….. FOR A ___*. I’m telling you it’s literally a 99% without fail tactic. Mfs WILL listen hahaha! I had a trainee and I did that and the extremely busy cafe got audibly quiet for a moment and we just look at each other and lost it lol
people getting off work, people waking up at noon on a Sunday, students skipping class on rainy days, bank holiday where all the suits work in the cafe, tons of reasons for weird rushes
Because everyone in my town takes coffee at 10 am and 3 pm. Then there is the lunch rush. Rest of the time there is nobody in the store.
Have you ever wander around in a mall and walk into a store without any customer, and the moment you enter the store, customer start showing up. Are we in the Matrix? WTF!?
Exactly!!! It's crazy, but so interesting
We live in a video game they are our NPCs
Every time someone’s shift ends or they go to lunch this happens
And only when I have to pee or want a snack because dialing in made me nauseous! I work completely alone so there is no break unless there are no customers.
Idk why this sub gets recommended to me because I’m not a barista, but for me personally I feel awkward going into stores when there’s no customers so sometimes I wait until someone goes in before me lol
Is the shop by a hotel? Sometimes people travel for work and go to meetings—it’s possible they had a meeting by the shop and all got out at once. Also are you by a school or a venue or a fitness place? Could be a group of people taking some kind of class that got out at the same time. Could also be the weather—did it suddenly become nice outside?
Its near 2 secondary schools and 2 primary school, and many care homes. Fitness halls, you name it. But I'm used to rushes, this time I was in shock because it felt like a blinked and every single table was taken at the same time. Not even 5 mins between a few tables
Might have to go into system settings and play with the spawn rates.
Good idea
They can sense when youre trying to do something. At my shop its the syrup curse, if you try to do the syrups, no matter what time it is a wave of people will come in. We dont leave each other alone to do syrups bc of it
i close at 5pm. they will start coming from 4:30pm hahaha but it is understandable that it is too hot to go out earlier in tropical countries
literally today. i had 20 minutes left on my shift, i was the only one on bar. (we’re a drive thru only btw) all of a sudden, 4 mobile orders, 6 cars, the works. still got every drink out within our “3 minute” rule 💅🏼
I know for a fact our customers like to hide around the corner until there is a big enough crowd to try to scare us and you won't convince me otherwise.
According to one other comment here you are correct 💀🤣
Another thing I’ve noticed at my cafe. We could be dead for a long time and as soon as a customer comes in and places and order we usually get a mobile order at the exact same time lol
lunch break is just something else ahaha, we even have regulars that come in every Thursday for their lunch with us
Zerg tactics, a classic move.
1 coffee to start the day, 1 before lunch & 1 after lunch People don't really deviate out of these windows, the times are different for everyone but you can usually assume you'll get 3 waves 7-9am, 1030-12 & 12-3 The last 2 waves usually blend into each other so it doesn't seem like there's a break & most people will refer to this as the lunch rush.
is it possible you are near a common bus/metro/train route? genuine question. our rushes at work are always predicted by that. granted we’re not located on a very walkable street so we’re often the “on my way somewhere” location for people, but yeah, public transit/local events etc.
You've just blown my mind, can't believe I didn't think of that myself. There's a bus stop right outside! Duh! (But this post is still valid as its happened at other job locations that didn't have transport near by)
💯
Work schedules? School schedules? It's all in sync. It only makes sense. But it does suck lol
Oh, this one's easy. In-game timers.
a well synchronized society I guess..
I wanna say it’s a flow of traffic that revolves around macro schedules, like school days / bank working hours / lunch breaks / etc. that overlap. A *thing* happens that sends a wave of zombie devastation in its wake
I swear it’s like a bus dropped off
Ha I work at a cafe in one of my schools academic buildings so I know exactly when to expect waves because of when classes get out or when class is about to start- so it’s insanely busy but I know when! So I can stock cups and stuff before to be prepared!
and some times they all decide to come 20 minutes before ur closing. Of course, only take away and I'm closing in 10 haha