Lift your clear plastic and cardboard lined white cups to me and say, "Cheers!" Tomorrow is my first day of working at Starbucks (insert espresso-induced shouting and screaming from wild fans of the expensive coffee). The road that led me here is outlined in my book "With God as My Witness" and I will be publishing this book sometime later this year, that's just a plug and an acknowledgement that my story is more than just the beginning of a new job at a coffeeshop. The journey that led me to Starbucks is an interesting...somewhat harrowing...oftentimes heartbreaking tale of rejection, acceptance, and every emotional variation on the spectrum between those two.
As I start my coffee brewing adventure as "shift manager" at the 635 and 75 Starbucks, I reflect on the first time I had Starbucks coffee. I was a junior in high school and my friend Stephanie took me to a Barnes and Noble cafe (aka- the original Starbucks in Oklahoma) and ordered for me, as I was an SB virgin, a Grande Cappuccino with a shot of vanilla. Even now, I can remember the savvy feeling of having a drink that contained a "shot" (wooo-hooo!), I thought, "if only 'they' could see me now..." Who "they" were I don't know, but if they could have seen me, I would have looked pretty impressive drinking that fancy coffee with all that foam and a shot of vanilla. I am sure that my pinkie was raised in the hoity-toity fashion of champange wishes and cavier dreams.
I actually don't even think that I enjoyed the coffee, but I was hooked on the lifestyle. I was a Starbucks junkie from that day forward. If it was Starbucks, I had to have it. I bought their mugs, their books, their cds, their pre-packaged coffee, their giftcards, their gadgets, their food. I mean, I was immersed in this culture, in a good way. I liked surrounding myself with the caffeinated essence of Starbucks. It was a haven, a safe place, a sanctuary if you will. A neutral ground for meeting friends, enemies, and friends of enemies. I had dates at Starbucks, I had illicit rendezvous at Starbucks, and I stole Splenda from Starbucks.
All for what? To one day return the favor and offer them my full-time employment...for pay and benefits, of course.
It's going to be interesting, serving coffee to these people just like me. People that are in a hurry, people that are angry, people that just want water and don't even leave a tip. I am now on the "other side" and I hope that you will come along with me on the journey. I am sure I will have many stories to tell.
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