starsucks

This past weekend i found myself rushing to catch a ferry across the Georgia Strait to hang out with some great people for a day. Being 7:30 in the morning, i thought i would grab a cup of something hot to wake me up. So...i walked over to the Starbucks in the ferry terminal, stepped in line, and ordered my tall vanilla americano misto. Not that i'm a coffee snob or anything, i just like options, and if there's options, i will take them. especially if i'm paying 3.75 for it. However, as we were being herded into the ferry like a bunch of cattle i noticed something disturbing...i glanced quickly around to see if i could find anyone NOT holding a Starbucks cup. With the dozens of people surrounding me, i could only find a couple. i don't know why this disturbed me so much. I wished that i had brought my own travel mug, letting the world know that i value saving the environment. Or i wished i had purchased coffee on my way there from a small lesser-known coffee company letting everyone know that i know a little secret place that makes the best coffee for half the price of Starsucks. I felt like a conformist. like one of them...one of everybody. and it bothered me. Geez danielle it's just a cup of coffee! but i couldn't handle it, i threw it in the first garbage can i saw. It was a crappy vanilla americano misto anyways. I don't think i'm going to completely boycott starbucks because in that way i'll label myself as a person who boycotts starbucks and this will raise questions from people and thus draw further attention to myself. By not wanting to be a conformist, it doesn't mean i want to stand out. i just want to be me. I want to be like Donald Miller and not feel the need to buy something at every pit stop just to feel different about myself. I don't want to hold a starbucks cup like it's part of my identity. Do you feel less important if you're holding a cup from 7-11? Do they actually have the best coffee or is that just what we tell ourselves so we can fit into this coffee culture who demands their Quad Grande 3-pump Mocha 3-pump Vanilla Light Mocha Drizzle Light Whip Cafe Mocha...oh and make that extra hot please. I feel sorry for starbucks baristas. They are required to be the makers of perfection everytime. they must perfect every customers wants and desires in a single cup in 30 seconds or they will be confronted with angry, caffeine-addicted customers who will demand a free drink ticket to add to the plenty they have in their pockets.
Ok now i just want a cup of coffee. I crave Bean Scene coffee from Kelowna. it's the best. But then again, that's a whole other culture isn't it? the hippies who KNOW about the hole in the wall coffee shops who don't feel the need to hold a starbucks cup to feel important. but...i guess this world is about culture and choosing which we want to follow. You can't really avoid it. I choose the hippie one. i love hippies.