It seems that the protracted inclement weather might well be stirring up kindnesses where one would least expect to find them. Like Starbucks, for instance. Yes, the notoriously commercialised wouldn't-piss-on-you-if-you-were-on-fire coffeehouse has a heart. Or so I heard recently. This story touched me, as a reminder that, just occasionally, humanity prevails. Even in Chelsea...
So, on her way to a meeting a dear friend of mine now drenched having been caught without umbrella and dressed for summer (that apparently missing season you'd be forgiven for forgetting we usually have between spring and autumn), is excited to discover that Starbucks is still open.
Well, just. It was a couple of minutes after 7 o'clock in the evening, but the barista welcomed her and took her order. A double shot soy Macchiato. After much fumbling in her overly large and overly full handbag, said friend realises that she has in fact left her wallet at home on the kitchen table having spent much of the afternoon trawling through her expenses.
Coffee made, and standing with her name on it (literally, given that they now seem to insist upon defying anonymity and one has to conjure up pseudonyms quicker than one can utter Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino). No money with which to pay for delightfully hot caffeine filled beverage.
A brief dialogue took place between unfeasibly smiley barista (doubtless eager to rip off her green apron and free her tresses from the hairnet), during which the contents of my friend's Mary Poppins style handbag have been offered, by way of collateral.
No IOU was issued. Not so much as a second thought was given. The coffee was hers, and she could come in and pay for it tomorrow. Sometimes gems are to be found in the most unlikely of places. Like pearls, I s'pose. This brought a smile to my face, and a gentle lift to my spirits when, at the end of a long and otherwise somewhat unforgiving week, someone did something that is, today, in this metropolis at least, quite out of the ordinary. Now, what shall I call myself next time I descend upon the chain that boasts over 15,000 stores in an expanding empire that spans 50 countries which sprang from an unassuming shop that opened in Seattle in 1971? Mine's a Berry Hibiscus Refresha (the new drink containing green coffee extract without the coffee taste... Well, we can imagine it's summer, can't we?)
Starbucks' mission is to inspire and nurture the human spirit
- one person, one cup, and one neighbourhood at a time.
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