Tag Archives: starbucks

Christmas Blend, with two pumps of peppermint syrup

Customer at Starbucks, sitting at a table with her friend, after noticing how crowded the store is at 10am: Wow, this is kind of scary. I’m glad I have a job. I’m assuming she assumes that anyone sitting at Starbucks at 10am on a Friday is out of work. Despite the “Whuh?” factor of this, [...]
Posted in People | Also tagged | 4 Comments

Tom no more

You may recall that last year I frequented a local Starbucks under the pseudonym Tom G. Whiffler1. Then one day Starbucks annoyed me and I decided to drive 10 miles to an independent coffeeplace, and I never looked back (figure of speech). So, for the last six or seven months I’ve been going to this [...]
Posted in Life | Also tagged , , | 9 Comments

12DB, Day 1: Cappuccino

There are three reasons I like ordering cappuccino, and they are these: I don’t actually like ordering cappuccino. The “hipness” of cappuccino has worn off. I never would have ordered it in the mid- or late-90s, when Starbucks was just taking off and people were discovering espresso for the first time. But now it’s commonplace [...]
Posted in Life | Also tagged , | Leave a comment

This is Tom

I was tired of exchanges like this at Starbucks: “Large, unsweetened, black iced tea, please.” “Can I get your name?” “Conlan.” “Conley?” “Conlan.” “Conland?” “Conlan.” “How do you spell that?” So, a few months ago the question came again. As I began to form the hard ‘C’ in the back of my throat—dreading the inevitable [...]
Posted in Life | Also tagged , | 1 Comment