Sometimes I come into work early and the only coffee shop that’s open (other than McDonald’s, which doesn’t exactly make what I would call coffee) is Starbucks. They’re open at 5:30AM and I’m usually to the office no later than 6AM, so it’s my only _good_ choice for coffee. I also happen to really like Starbucks coffee. I think it taste the best out of all of the coffee shops I’ve been to and it also has about double the caffeine (sweet!!).
Then there’s the the local coffee shop a couple blocks away called Fido. It’s a decent place that’s very popular around town and they have great food and _good_ coffee. However, regardless of how much pride they take in their coffee and coffee making skills, it’s still nothing I’d write home about.
So today I was in Fido. I wanted breakfast, which they do an excellent job of, and I brought along my dreaded corporate infested Starbucks coffee cup. I still had 1/2 a cup left and didn’t want to waste my money buying coffee I didn’t need. I’ve done this plenty of times before (not frequently, but definitely more than once). The cup itself looks about the same as their cups and also has about the same kind of cardboard sleeve. The only way you would notice the difference is if you were looking at everyone’s cups for some strange reason, instead of minding your own business and not giving a damn about unimportant things.
Unfortunately, I had to be confronted by the same annoying guy who was in front of me in line and took forever to make his order. I remembered him, because his overall demeanor annoyed me. He seemed scatter brained – like the kind of person who has been to too many protests about things he couldn’t truly grasp in its entirety, and the kind of person who has had part of his mind altered from smoking entirely too much pot. He reeked of that self-righteous bandwagon mentality that is confused, but stubborn about things in the world he doesn’t really understand or hasn’t fully contemplated.
The exchange was brief. He came by my table and said something about sacrilege for me having a cup of coffee from the evil empire. I told him it was fine. He then told me that their coffee sucked and that Fido’s coffee was way better. I knew of course that he had no idea what he was talking about and was talking out of his ass. His assault on my Starbucks coffee was rooted in the dislike for a corporate entity, not the actual taste or quality of the coffee. So my reply to him was that I actually liked their coffee better than Fido’s and that was about it. An honest answer to a lame interruption and scolding.
About a minute passed before I was confronted by someone who worked at the coffee shop. They said management wanted me to pour my _illicit_ coffee into one of their cups. At first, I was thinking about how silly it was. Even sillier, I know the management. Why couldn’t Jeff just tell me that himself? Why the sudden chill in the air for having outside coffee for this brief moment? I got up and confronted Jeff (nicely, mind you) and asked him what was up. His response was that they’re a coffee shop and that I was advertising a competing coffee shop by using that cup. I complied, but couldn’t shake the silliness of the situation.
It wasn’t until I sat down and kept thinking about it that I realized what had happened. In my honesty, and in typical Jon style, I had insulted them. Where I was sitting, everyone was to my back, and they must have watched the entire exchange between me and that asshat. I’m sure that saying confidently that I like Starbucks’ coffee better than theirs must have struck a nerve, especially since I know that they take their coffee making skills seriously (I’m not kidding there, I know for a fact from past conversations that they really take it seriously). That of course wasn’t my intention with my comments, but that’s what happened – I’m sure of it.
Regardless, there’s nothing I would take back. I can’t apologize and say that I really like their coffee better, because that would be a lie. I also can’t take their “advertising” complaint all that seriously either. Being a business owner, and understanding the niche they fill – not to mention the people who are their patrons – they really have _nothing_ to fear from a rogue Starbucks coffee cup floating around. Instead, I think the fear may be more deeply rooted with the truths of that coffee shop. That being, their coffee is _not_ special and their service, overall and compared to Starbucks, really, really sucks. But alas, I go there for the convenience of it all and to get a break from my daily grind.
