Starbucks: And a-One and a-Two

I'm in  the back corner at Starbucks now, within earshot of a table full of people in matching black shirts. Nuns?  No, mixed sex.  Mussolini street thugs?  No, far too polite.  Oh, right--Starbucks staff, no maybe the shift leaders, getting instruction from HQ on --well, I think on how to orchestrate, no choreograph, the intricate array of to-ing and fro-ing that seems to be built into the Starbucks model,.  It sounds like some kind of multipolar maximization problem, like a game of Oregon Trail, where the ultimate commandment is never ever let the customer walk away because the queue is too long or (just as bad) roll on by because the drive-thru line looks clogged.

I'm trying not to listen--I've got work to do--but I can;t help but wondering: why are they sitting at a table?  Seems to me they can't really learn the steps unless they get on out there and do the dance.