I don't drink coffee. I've tried. I've tried it with sugar, cream, and sugar&cream. Naw. Tastes like mud. I don't even like mocha - why ruin perfectly good chocolate with coffee? If I believed in sin - putting coffee and chocolate together would be a BIG one.
No coffee; no daily trips to Starbucks. Right?
Sort of.
When I work, I go to Starbucks and get a Venti Black Iced Tea, unsweetened (shaken, not stirred). Really, they actually shake it. When I was a therapist in West Bend, Wisconsin, I stopped there every morning. I knew all the Baristas. They were all twelve, had perfect skin and were chipper at 7:30am. I'm not even fully awake or aware at 7:30...but still I drive.
Maybe there is something to drinking coffee.
My local Starbuckery is about two miles down the road. I don't go there often, but when I do it's in the morning. Except for today. Today, I stopped in after buying a million dollars worth of fruit and vegetables at an upscale grocery. I had $2.50 left and that's what a Venti Black Iced Tea, unsweetened costs.
What did I see? Not twelve year old women with firm bodies and perky boobs. Not studly men in tight tees working those foamers like they were making art with their own body fluids. Not even anyone who reminded me of all the gay BFFs who have come and gone in my life. I saw WOMEN. Middle aged women with poochy bellies, wiggly butts, and breasts beginning to go south. Real live people. ( I'd guess 50ish...and that would be generous.)
These midlife ladies weren't perky - they were nurturing. When I placed my order the Barista turned her head towards the one youngster Barista and said, "Honey - can you make this nice lady a Venti Black Iced tea, no syrup? Thank you, dear." I could barely move- so stunned was I. "Hon, just wait at the end of the counter and Steffy (or Steffi, or Stephee, or Steffie) will have it right up for you, " she directed.
At the pick-up counter a smiling, raven haired Mom-ista stood smiling. Her bright (and I mean neon bright) red lips beckoning me closer. She produced the tea, smiled big, "Okay darlin' you just have yourself the best day ever! Here ya go."
I don't know if I could be as nurturing or as friendly as those women. By nature I'm sort of a bitch. But at a time in my life when finding a "fun" part-time retirement job is quite a feat, this is a beacon of incandescent light - not one of those horrible curly lights. Older people are easily discounted and invisible. Ask an older person. But here was a chance...a thought...a possibility. I will tuck this information into my tiny, disorganized, brain for "later". (Although I have no idea how much 'later' I actually have) When I am tired of writing reports that frustrate me or tired of listening to the whining and sniffling of clients....I might be come a Gold-ista and start a trend towards Grannies whacked out on caffeine and servin' up a little wisdom...for tips, of course.
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