There is nothing better than being in Starbucks during the holiday season. The carols are playing in the background, the buzz of laughter and conversation is going on all around us. It feels warm and fuzzy. It smells delicious. There are the flavours of the season to be sampled and enjoyed. As a lover of decadent and powerfully charged caffeinated beverages Starbucks has become one of my favourite places but particularly at this time of year. Is there any better place on earth?
I was an early adopter of coffee houses. I remember sitting in one of the earliest ones in central Canada almost 20 years ago. When Starbucks opened it’s doors on the West Coast I was there sipping my first vanilla latte and I have been hooked ever since. I even considered buying one at one point. So now it has actually become part of my holiday tradition. This is where I buy gifts. It is where I meet friends. It is where I have business appointments and I discover new and exciting people, and I give out the gift of friendship.
Cheaper coffee places attract a certain clientele. There are a lot of good people in many kinds of places, but Starbucks has a unique crowd. There are the young people coming in and out having grande frappaccinos and families popping in for a hot drink and a snack but there are also the university students plugged into the wall for a connection.
There are also the Starbucks millionaires. They may look like ex-oilmen in their eighties that come out for a coffee only at 3:00 in a downtown location. There are the owners of large companies running their billion dollar affairs from their iphone and their mac computer. There are the investors meeting the inventors and the consultants delivering strategies for their clients. Engineers with teams of engineers, and builders and movers and shakers are tucked into corners with bluetooths in their ears. I have gained new clients because one of them noticed me on my laptop and started asking me questions. Other times I have found myself deep in political debates or even in a social intervention. Seriously, you can meet the MOST interesting people here.
Then there is me. I am a writer primarily. I like the white noise, and although I may enjoy some conversation I really come here to get away from everyone and think. I pull in to avoid rush hour traffic between meeting clients and I pump out material sometimes to the tune of 6 pieces an hour. It is a great place to focus and sometimes to be pleasurably diverted.
I have decided that I like Starbucks. I think I want one for Christmas...
What more could one ask for?
Wishing you a wonderful holiday season from a nice big brown leather chair,
Kerry George
Always Loyal2U
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