Do you think the district manager for Starbucks knows that the employee message board at the Bristol/MacArthur location is plainly visible to customers? Over time, I’ve seen some strangely unmanagerial commentary on the board — stuff you wouldn’t think The Coffee Empire would want its customers to read. The messages also point to the fact that this DM, whomever he or she is, rules with an iron fist and a passive-aggressive style.

Seen on the board this morning:

“To all partners: The game of writing cute little messages on every sign and note in the store is now over. If it continues even once more, I will be forced to handle the issue.”

“Forced to handle the issue?” Come on. First of all, since everyone who comes into Starbucks is jonesing for a caffeine fix, do we even notice the happy faces on the Coffee of the Day sign? And second, what does “forced to deal with the issue” mean? You gonna make them drop and give you 20? Puh-leeze.