Tuesday, September 6, 2011

My tenth slice-of-life story...

A Known Quantity

I am a creature of habit:
alarm,
morning routine,
glide through the Starbucks drive-thru before 7.
Same drink;
ALWAYS.

Baristas see me coming through their sign's tiny video camera out back.
She's here now; one extra-hot, extra-spicy chai tea latte coming up.
My drink's special spice ratio balanced by coffee house metrics ---
five pumps for tall, seven pumps for grande.

This morning, tall.

At the swing and shut window,
a grande is proffered magically by Rochelle, 
the weekday morning barista.

"I ordered a tall and this is a grande.  
         Can I pay you the difference?"

In typical Starbucks corporate generosity,
Rochelle replies, "No...
         but, since this drink is bigger,
         let me add more chai syrup to it
         so it's just how you like it."

Generosity, kindness, comfort, and joy.
Surprise, and delight.
Consistency.

Being known:
by habit,
by preference,
by quantity.

Write on, 
b

3 comments:

  1. I love the way to created this poem and that early morning coffee, PERFECT!

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  2. a lovely little slice that starts the day just right! Always nice to collect those nicenesses in our lives. They are important to note! I think your Starbucks would love a copy of this!

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  3. I agree with Linda, Starbucks would love to see this. Your piece reminds me of all the years I waited tables before I started teaching. It was always so nice to do things for extra-nice people like you. :)

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Hi! I'd love to hear what you are thinking right now, so please take a sec and drop me a line. I'm so glad you stopped by today -- thanks a billion. :)