Coffee Break or Way of Life?
Well guys and girls I’m sitting in my local coffee shop today and thinking about the future. More specifically the future of the coffee shop I’m sitting in right now. There has recently been talk of a Starbucks going in across the mall and it leaves me wondering what will become of my little home away from home. Some of you are probably wondering why I would care that much, isn’t one coffee shop as good as any? Well anyone who lives for the little moments when the espresso hits the steamed milk, the rich taste of a good dark roast or the just the warm welcome home feel you get when you walk in that door and the cute girl at the cash asks ” The regular?”. To some people where they get their coffee fix is a place to relax and enjoy a warm drink with friends . While others just go to get a quick pick me up. I was once one of the people who didn’t know the true coffee experience. Now I sit here and enjoy not just the coffee but the happy chatter from the other patrons, and the clatter from the barista as she steams milk and pours the espresso, preparing another caffeine concoction.
So what does Starbucks mean to my little home away from home? Well I hope that others will remain loyal to this little place and allow it to stay open. I think the draw of the bigger name coffee shop will attract a lot of attention, at first anyway. They will have more flavoures and quicker service but will they have the same feel. Will the barista know your name? Will they be able to tell you that your favorite medium roast is being served today? I don’t have the answer to these questions but I have to keep optimistic. I do know that the little coffee shops are a haven for those of us that truly enjoy sitting for an afternoon with friends or reading a good book with a delicious macchiato. An excellent place to enjoy a cool italian soda out in the sun while watching the traffic go by. Or the perfet place to take someone on a first date, flirting over a steaming cup of coffee.
There are people who will cry out that Starbucks is not as bad as I make it out and that they go there all the time and find it to be the best coffee shop around. Lets not get confused. I like Starbucks, I even go there sometimes. All I’m saying is don’t let the more comercially acceptable coffee shops be the only ones you go to. Go try one of your local shops, you might just find a new place to call home.
sooooooooo, you go into grand detail about how wonderful this itty bitty little local shop is. You dive into phenomenal depths when describing the delectable experience that you find in this shop. You express an explicit desire for us to continue to support the local shops and YET! YET! you fail to tell us what bloody shop you are raving about. If you want it to survive then give it some much needed publicity that you obviously have the ability to give it. Name the names yo!
I think Rob was talking about Esquires Coffee in Ladysmith, though I can’t be sure.