By Scott Nicolson
Steampunk has been closed as a cafe for six months out of the past twelve. Although the business has kept busy on the online side of things, our baristas have found themselves on furlough for some long stretches of time. We are so grateful that the furlough system has enabled us to protect the jobs of our vital team members like Scotty who has been at the heart of Team Steam for over 6 years now. Here he shares some thoughts on his first week back behind the coffee machine.
Getting back to work was huge thing for me this week. I struggled quite a lot with the second lockdown. In a way I felt kind of lost, not getting up for any real reason. So when we got the date that we would be going to work I was ecstatic!
Being able to work with what are essentially your best mates is a superb feeling. We’re a very positive team and work for each other and I think that’s why do so well. We all have a very keen interest on coffee and understanding is at different levels so we learn from each other every day.
I missed being able to serve our regulars each day and being able to get a wee two minute window asking how their day has been or what their plans are. The great thing about our customers is that they’re always positive and very supportive!
We found it very comforting that our customers have shown nothing but support all the way through this pandemic, whether that’s been through ordering online with us or grabbing a takeaway in the limited hours we were open. So it’s been superb seeing all the regular faces again.
Check out some blog posts by our team mates Peter and Rachel who have also shared their thoughts about working in hospitality.