Starbucks manager and state trooper watch barista’s baby while she works
A Starbucks barista in North Carolina couldn’t find anyone to watch her baby and called her shift manager in tears, only for a surprising solution to materialize.
Shantaphae Blakes, who works part-time at the Winston-Salem Starbucks in North Carolina, couldn’t find a babysitter for her shift to watch her daughter, Dilynn, last month. So, she called her shift supervisor, Harper Spell, to try to work out what to do.
“She was so upset,” Spell told TODAY. “[Blakes] said, ‘I have Dilynn in the back seat. Would it be okay if I came?’ I just said, ‘Don’t worry about it. I need you here. We’ll take care of Dilynn.’ ”
When Blakes arrived, Spell helped to keep the little girl entertained and became her “second mom” for the day. But as the morning rush approached, Blakes started to worry again.
Trooper Brad to the rescue
State Trooper Brad Marshall, a regular customer of hers, also stepped in to help.
“Our regular crew of troopers rolled in the door and took this sweet girl right into their care for over an hour. Trooper Brad and one of his fellow partners were outstanding in making sure we could still get our job done and even had a little fun with it,” Spell wrote on Facebook along with a picture of two state troopers playing with the little girl inside the Starbucks. “He even bought her a cup that she had been holding on to all morning. This is what the holidays are all about and it made my heart melt to see this unfold today. Thank you, Brad and NC State Troopers everywhere, you guys rock!”
Blakes later told Today that the whole experience “just blew me away.”
“I’m blessed. I’m honestly blessed to have the Starbucks family,” she said.
