I advocated for a long time to get a Starbucks here in Portsmouth, VA. It took ten years. I actually check for the nearest Starbucks on Mapquest before I closed on my house here. Starbucks is more than just coffee. I once took a colleague from Red Cross to Starbucks for the first time. She had been blind since birth. She inhaled deeply and said, "This is what brown looks like, right?"
I love my Starbucks peeps. They provide wonderful service, as well as a strong sense of community. They started a book and magazine exchange. Last week, I was able to read the lastest issue of More magazine, one of my favorites...brand new. I've taken home many excellent novels and dropped off books I've finished.
McDonalds started serving iced coffee and lattes a few months ago. They marketed this new product to Starbucks patrons. Wrong demographic! Apparently McDonalds didn't do as well during the last quarter and experts believe is it because the upscale coffee drinks were a bust. I'm not surprised. They might have been cheaper, but they didn't taste as good and the ambiance wasn't the same.
It's not just about the coffee. It is the decor, the terrific music, the patrons, the service, the sense of community...the whole megillah, as they say in Yiddish, which has to do with the book of Esther, but I digress.
So I'm off for an iced vente three equal sugar free vanilla latte. It is my luxury and my treat for the day. It doesn't bother my blood sugar and is a good source of calcium. And my Starbucks peeps will be there.
