I first started drinking coffee my junior year of college, when I took a semester off from school and ended up traveling in South America for a few months, initially arriving in Chile to visit a friend writing a thesis. Believe it or not, coffee was served to me in the followng way (in a sit-down cafe): cup of hot water + mini spoon + sugar bowl full of instant coffee + packets of sugar/bottle of liquid sweetner. Talk about an inconspicious debut!
Now, Starbucks is literally in the ground floor of my building, and my ritual stop on the way to work. My order is a grande coffee in a venti cup, filled to the top of Ms. Star's crown, with soymilk. On weekends sometime I'll bring reading and enjoy my coffee with a bagel, though lately I'll make coffee at home instead.
Funny thing about Giant Corporate Coffee Chain versus the neighborhood coffee shop though... My barristas and I are on a first-name basis- I know which barristas are out on vacation, and who is at the counter on Friday mornings. They set the soymilk at the bar for me ahead of time, and they help me keep perspective going into the week... Mondays are my early day- usually stop in before 6:30 am- which can make for a brutal end to a weekend at times. But no matter how tired I am, they've already been working for a couple hours, opening up the store.
When I imagine a small local coffee shop, I envision a small-town place where everybody knows your name, where the person serving your coffee notices if you got a haircut or will explain the difference between medium and dark roasts... Kind of feels like I have all that already... I see the same friendly, familiar faces every day. As a customer, that makes you feel good. So does enjoying the ritual of sipping my coffee as I log into my computer in the morning. Not to mention the tangible value derived from remaining alert and attentive to my 7:00 Monday morning meeting!
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