|  I've never been a very big coffee girl. There's something about spending $4 for caffeine that annoys me, so it's usually a special treat that I do on the very rare occasion. I have quite a few chuckles at the expense of my friends who were addicted to their regular beverages, all while sipping my Diet Vanilla Black Cherry Coke. (F**k you, Coke, for discontinuing Vanilla Coke in the US!)
A few weeks back, when school was closed for a few weeks between the summer and fall sessions, I had to take my group to the downtown library to get in their computer time. Being that the library doesn't open until 10 AM and us being on an early schedule, we were arriving at about 1/2 hour before the doors opened. On the corner near the library was a Barfucks, as my friend Anthony is so fond of referring to Starbucks.
I would grimace when I saw the line of people from the outside crawling inward and wonder why people were so willing to wait in order to pay so much for coffee. I'd had Starbucks coffee in the past and wasn't all that impressed with it. (Once you've had Kona coffee from Hawaii, all others pale in comparison.) Yet one morning I was feeling parched and opted to get in that line.
There was a sign on the wall tempting me with the come-hither phrase of "Try our coffee of the month!" It turned out to be the Iced Caramel Macchiato. I plunked down my $3.10 for a Tall (strangely, this is what Starbucks refers to as a "small") and waited at the end of the counter to have my beverage order filled.
Sidenote: Is it just me, or does it seem like Starbucks employs some of the most chipper, effeminately gay men on the planet? Don't get me wrong, if there is any specific personality that I would like to be greeted with in the morning, it's a smiling, happy, extremely well-groomed man. It's just something I've made a mental note of.
I was handed my drink along with a paper-wrapped straw. The coffee floated happily on the milk, the caramel stuck enticingly to the sides and the ice swirled slowly in the plastic cup. I stuck the straw in and began to stir slowly, working the coffee into the milk. Then, I sipped.
YUM.
I'd purchased a maple oat-nut scone to go along with the drink and might I say, the two complimented each other very nicely. Within mere minutes, I was walking along with a caffeine buzz, smiling like one of the Starbucks counter boys.
Over the course of the next few weeks, I purchased several more of that very drink, spending far more on a non-essential item than I knew better to do. That very thought occurred to me several times as I was paying for my purchase. I started adding up in my head how much I'd spent and thinking about some of the other items I could have gotten that would have stayed with me for longer than the 15 minutes that it took me to guzzle down my newly found liquid love.
Why is it that people are spending so much money on an item that really isn't necessary? It made me wonder if it is heroin that Starbucks is lacing in with its coffee beans. There must be a good explanation for why all of their employees actually look happy to see me.
In our calorie conscious society, why are there not more people realizing just how many empty calories they are consuming? I don't care if you get it low-fat, non-fat or negative-fat, you're putting something into your body that your body gets nothing out of, other than a small burst of fictitious energy.
Better yet, why is it that we are so willing to wait in extremely long lines at Starbucks, lines that rival those at the DMV, in order to pay too much money for a non-essential? I rarely hear people bitching about the length of lines while standing in one at Starbucks. The main complaint just seems to be that they "NEED" their caffeine.
Hell, I complain because I don't think that a coffee shop should be selling anything other than coffee and pastries. No gum, no CDs, no gift cards. Just coffee and pastries. And can we get a "cash only" line? If you've got to pull out your ATM card in order to pay for your drink, chances are you shouldn't be buying it in the first place. Stop impeding traffic with that s**t.
Wow... I actually got mad over something that occurs at Starbucks. The world really IS coming to an end.
Oh, well. As long as they have Iced Caramel Macchiatos in hell, I'm good.
Discussion of the Day:
What are your opinions on how our nation spends so much money on items that are complete non-essentials? Do you think that you could go an entire year without those things you purchase which are not necessary to your survival?
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