A friendly Starbucks experience today

A very good Starbucks experience on 60th and Broadway...

I ordered a decaf coffee, and when they gave it to me, it was not hot... kind of just "warm", and I hate warm coffee. All I said was, "this isn't really hot, the decaf is usually not hot here." (because it's always like that at that location.) She offered me 4 different things they could do. They could make Cafe Americano, give me anything else I wanted, give me my money back, or brew a new pot. I said I'd wait 5 minutes for a new pot. Exactly 5 minutes later, she came over with a very hot new cup of decaf, and a free card for any drink I want next time I'm at Starbucks! I really didn't make a fuss at all. It was great! I'm totally getting a double venti something frappuccino with a million extras with my "any drink on us" card.

Their customer service is really excellent. Like the time I ordered a latte and they gave me soy milk latte instead, so I took it back and got all the way back to my office and all they had given me was a cup of MILK. I had complained on the Starbucks website and they sent me not one but THREE free drink cards. I now think they should have a Customer Appreciation card with points, and once you hit a certain number of points (say, 100) you get a free drink. I think I'll write to Starbucks and suggest that.

A few things to note.

Yesterday a disheveled-looking man walked into the 'Bucks. He looked like he was pregnant and carrying a baby to his lower left. Upon closer inspection, I realized he had one of those big goiters you see on TLC or Oprah. It was about the size of a basketball, no joke. Kind of like this:



But on his stomach. It was insane.

Not related to Starbucks, but seriously the funniest video I've ever seen...

Cop Eats Brownies

What a champ.

And you thought I had good Starbucks stories...

By far, the best Starbucks story I've ever read:

Local Starbucks Patrons Buzzing About Brutal Pastry Case Attack

Man I wish I was there!

Well, it's finally here

After 1.5 years of spending 3 to 8 hours a day studying in Starbucks, I have a tremendous backfill of stories, sightings, and musings that have been mostly shared through "the circuit" (an e-mail chain with my friends.) I've finally been persuaded to post these to the general public, so here I go! The addition of my iPhone is going to make this whole blog thing a lot easier!

So most people know I want to meet my future husband in Starbucks. Therefore, I'm very attune to my surroundings and how people meet. Until today, I had never witnessed people actually meeting for the first time in Starbucks. J-Dates, Match.commers, and seemingly innocent friends becoming something more over their iced coffees have definitely crossed my line of view, but today was a first. An actual boy-meets-girl sitting next to him leading to conversation leading to a date actually happened in front of my very eyes. It went something like this:

Guy: "Hey that sandwich looks really good. Where did you get it from?"
Girl: "Oh next door. They gave me so much turkey I know I'm going to end up throwing half of it out, but yes it's definitely a good sandwich."
Guy: "Yeah I am always looking for a good sandwich in this part of town. And that one looks pretty darn good. Do you work around here?"

And so it goes. They chatted for over an hour about everything from apartment-hunting to their jobs to their families to wine to good restaurants... which led to... "here's my card. We should go out sometime." They then proceeded to plan a Sunday night date, and I guess they couldn't wait that long because they then decided they both had nothing to do that afternoon (doesn't anyone work?) and walked to Soho together.

I actually witnessed a girl get picked up because she had a GOOD LOOKING SANDWICH. Here I was thinking my iPhone would attract guys.... when really, all I needed was a turkey sandwich. Who knew?