A funny, disastrous, Christian 20-something and her friends describe their funny, disastrous and sometimes not-so-Christian dates.


Sunday, April 20, 2008

When You Wish Upon a Starbucks

Depending upon the exact location, walking into a Starbucks can be an adventure for the young, single, middle-class-with-upper-class-pretensions woman who is at least mildly educated. There are always at least a couple of guys sitting alone or waiting in line, and if she's having a good day and is at least average-looking, one of them might check her out when she walks in the door, or turn his head when she places her order. If she's in a college town or on a university campus, there is the inevitable collection of corduroy-clad grad students, tomes in hand, spending their meager stipends on caffeination. (Those who prefer men with a more financially stable future should head toward the java joints located near law or med schools, as I discovered this morning.)

Starbucks stores located in urban areas are preferable, as there is one on every block anyway, so the sheer turnover of customers in one day is exponentially higher, both in number and in variety. Instead of being limited to the new generation of literati or up-and-coming moneymakers, she can also meet Usual Guys With Usual Jobs, or someone altogether different.

But if she lives in suburbia, as I do, picking up a fella in Starbucks is far riskier. She is generally limited to two characters: Moved-Back-In-With-His-Parents-After-College Guy, ie. the barista; or, far more often, The Middle-Aged-Man With A Business Suit And Wandering Eyes [often divorced but even more usually married]. Mr. Business Suit will oh-so-graciously hold the door for her, or even allow her to cut in front of him in line, trapping her in his net of smooth but not-so-witty banter and surprise over their newly discovered mutual love of coffee.

I know all of these things when I walk into a Starbucks, a Panera, or any other place selling legal addictive stimulants that's been deemed hip. Yet I'm still always surprised when something like this happen, as it did this morning:


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