how educational (sitting at) starbucks can be

i realized, as i was sipping my dark cherry mocha frappe (which is a wonderful addition to the starbucks holiday drinks, although i do miss peppermint mocha), how hanging around at starbucks can be quite educational.

ok, so maybe not really educational. amusing at the very least. still i'd like to classify it as educational because i felt smarter when i left, but you be the judge to what it really is.

i went to have coffee at starbucks earlier tonight while i was waiting for my dad to pick me up. i would usually just take public transpo home but it was later than usual and he was around the area so i asked him to come get me. and also because i promised my best friend dee i'd add one more sticker to her little promo card. she already told me she was planning to give me the planner as her christmas gift, and since what i was getting her was way cheaper, i decided that helping out in getting my present would kind of even the odds.

anyway, while i was sipping away and peeling the price tag off of the book i got dave for christmas, i looked around and realized i was irritated by the barista shouting out the orders.

- one dark cherry mocha frappuchino for boyet -

followed by

- one dark cherry mocha frappuchino, one caramel frappuchino & one java chip frappuchino for jenny -

while everyone in the coffee shop was bustling about doing their business.

one group of probably late twenties to early thirties friends were laughing their heads off really (irritatingly) loudly, a couple near me eyeing each other while sipping their frappes, a group of people who acted like they owned the place (oh, they're baristas, ok, as if that means anything), another two people facing each other but with laptops in between them, and a young mother with her probably 6-year-old daughter (yeah let them get used to caffeine early on in life) waiting for their frappes (yes, they were coffee based, i heard them order).

there were also about 5 people in line all the time. yes, all the time. when one gets his/her order, another one would come in and get in line. the line was there for about ten of the fifteen minutes i waited.

anyway. on to the educational (or whatever) part.

well, most of the people there were there because of the planner. of the planner almost everyone hates. there's not a lot of good reactions to starbucks' 2009 planner probably because it's not as fancy as the previous ones. i don't really care much about it, even if i'm getting one for christmas. i haven't really checked it out, just so there'd still be an element of surprise to it.

ANYWAAAAAY.
(by now i think its obvious i tend to go off course when i talk/write/blog. yeah.)

mostly everyone was there because of the planner. nearly everyone had a sticker book. it's just funny that people who admittedly hate the planner are still getting it (search it up, a lot of people are saying "i hate it but i'm getting it anyway", promise). BUT i'm not generalizing, okay? i know some people actually love it because it's less bulky now, and some people who hate it are starbucks regulars/addicts anyway so they get it and give it away, as is the case of my best friend who openly admitted her smart smart plan.

anyway, my point is that, because of all the hype, and the "cool factor" that has apparently attached itself to the concept of a starbucks planner, people go and get it, even if they think it's ugly and not worth their money, but it's justifiable for one reason or another.

so... i got to thinking about that. why would they do that?

at this point the price tag i was peeling off dave's present was off and i'd put the book back in the bag, if you were wondering, and i was back to sipping my dark cherry mocha frappe and observing people while waiting for my dad.

well, i personally think that the concept of starbucks is not about the coffee. there are other coffee shops who serve good - if not better - coffee. and there's also the cheaper version, if we've forgotten about that. the traditional coffee maker thing plus the whole 3-in-one thing for busier, cost-cutting people. and i don't think it's about the nice ambience either. i mean, come on. do you seriously think that a place bustling with giggly over eager pre-teens has a nice ambience?

so, since it's not about the coffee, and not about the ambience, i therefore conclude that it is about the PLANNER.

hahahaham i'm kidding.

i think it's about the social status that's innevitably associated with being in starbucks.

oops, dad's here.


*to be continued*