If you have a moral or ethical dilemma about Starbucks, I ask you to please step away from this post. You aren’t going to like it, and you aren’t going to convince me to stop wasting my money at their coffee establishment. If we can agree to disagree, then by all means, proceed on!
A couple weeks ago, I was heading out with M and E. I decided I was having a sluggish morning, and needed a “pick-me-up,” so I was going to go to my local Starbucks. Conveniently for me, it is less than 7 minutes away, and has a drive-thru! Inconveniently for my husband, Starbucks is 7 minutes away, and has a drive-thru! The drive-thru feature saved me several times during my husband’s deployment, but I digress.
To get to our Starbucks, if I want to get there quickly, I have to make a U-turn. As I was making my U-turn, M asked me, “What did you forget?” Before thinking of my answer, I quickly threw out, “Oh, Mommy didn’t forget anything – she just needs to get to her ‘happy place’.” Then, I realized I just referred to Starbucks as, “my happy place,” and I am pretty sure I will hear that again someday.
So, yes, Starbucks is my happy place.
Truth of the matter is:
– If I had any other, more convenient options, I would love to support a local, independently owned coffee shop. But, I have found the only place where I can find local, independently owned, drive thru coffee stands is in the Pacific North West. For whatever reason, the rest of the country sorely lacks coffee stands, and as a mom of multiple children, I disdain the notion of unpacking a car to shuttle children in to a coffee joint, to spend time waiting for a coffee, just to juggle the drink and two children getting back in the car. Then again, I hated doing that as a mom of a singleton, too. In Hawaii, I had a fabulous coffee joint I would frequent more than Starbucks, but in the crunch where M was sleeping and I didn’t want to wake him up, I would head to Starbucks;
– I don’t drink “coffee.” Caffeine doesn’t impact me whatsoever. I find the taste of coffee to be just mediocre. Instead, I drink sugar and sweetness with a little coffee thrown in the mix. Starbucks makes my confection of liquid gold typically standard across the board. And, if they don’t get it correct, or their service is subpar, I know they have a bigger boss in which to take a complaint;
– Perhaps the most important aspect of Starbucks to me is that it reminds me of being home. All of my older siblings are slowly making their way, from all over the world, to within the confines of the border of one single state. That would be Washington State (I’ve learned I have to specify that WA is a state, when I live on the east coast).
In WA, you can literally find a Starbucks everywhere. No matter where I go in the world, Starbucks’ ambiance and feel is the same, and allows me to imagine, even if it is somewhat a tenuous connection, how close I am with my siblings, even with the miles separating us. So, I have no qualms, especially on cold, wet, rainy days, about enjoying my, “sweet nectar of goodness.”
Thank you, Starbucks, for being my, “happy place.”
I spent three weeks overseas during winter break, and although there were many unique coffee shops within walking distance of my residence I usually chose Starbucks. I wasn’t homesick but the smell (and even taste!) was comforting, even if it was hard to order 😉
And I’m not a mom but more often than not, it’s easier and more ‘on-the-way’ to stop into Starbucks before classes than it is to run into my favorite local cafe. I usually reserve those places for the weekend. 🙂 You’re not alone!
So glad to hear I am not alone!! And, I agree – there is something about the smell and taste that is comforting. It’s the entire ambiance!
Thank you for letting me know I am not alone! 😀
i think you know my thoughts on this. 🙂
I most certainly do! Glad you enjoyed it!! 😀