Falling In Love at Starbucks

"The whole purpose of places like Starbucks is for people with no decision-making ability whatsoever to make six decisions just to buy one cup of coffee. Short, tall, light, dark, caf, decaf, low-fat, non-fat, etc. So people who don't know what the hell they're doing or who on earth they are can, for only $2.95, get not just a cup of coffee but an absolutely defining sense of self: Tall. Decaf. Cappuccino." 

-Joe Fox, You've Got Mail

As you may have guessed, I am sitting in a Starbucks in Old Town right now.  It is amazing what a trip to the city will inspire.  Whenever I am in Albuquerque, I make a point to stop and get my next Cinnamon Dulce Latte fix since we don't have them where I live.  I have worked a couple of jobs as a barista, both of which were mom & pop establishments... they would tell me I have sold out because I enjoy the occasional Starbucks beverage.  I think in America, if you give people coffee, they will come out of their shells willingly, they will sit and relax prior to the onset of jitteriness, and they'll show you a little more about themselves.   

The romantic in me believes anything can happen in a Starbucks coffee shop.   I used to make up love stories in my head, picking out two people who seemed suitable for each other, and imagine them striking up conversation while waiting for their drinks, and that the rest would be history.  No nonsense, no games, just love springing from simple conversation between two coffee lovers.  While I was still single I would make a frequent trip to Starbucks just to get off campus.  Each time, as I was about to walk through the door, I'd imagine that there was a handsom stranger waiting in there for me, the one that I would thereafter have coffee dates with, and buy matching ceramic cups with.

The reason why I like Starbucks (besides there CDL's) is because it is a place that people readily identify with.   Whether you are in NYC, Seattle, or simply Albuquerque, you are choosing from the same menu as all the other stops.  There really is one on every corner, and it's a beautiful thing to share that experience with other corners of the U.S.  Somehow this place makes a person feel more adequate, more sophisticated, more romantic.  Even when people don't really know much about who they are, they definitely know what their favorite coffee drink is.  They feel a sense of comfort because they are in here for the same reasons as everyone else; it is a way of finding common ground with total strangers.  It is a gathering place for the coffee aficionados disguised as every day people.   My guilty pleasure is people watching, especially at a place that serves hot drinks.  


I love to watch people effortlessly display their unique tastes in accessories; I love to hear them choose their drink orders, and sitting in one place for a couple of hours makes me privy to witness the bouquet of style.  The older lady with the turquoise tights and cute rain boots, the tween with the awesome black skinny jeans, the firemen off duty, and the handsom doctor with well-groomed hair and scrubs --we all have the same thing in common:  We are here.  Let them be human, let them drink coffee!




Caryn