Closing Shop-And a Life

摘要

I stopped going to starbucks in 2003. it's not that i don't like the coffee. I stopped going because Erika was no longer behind the counter. It took some months of regularity, but it finally happened: Erika knew me. This corporate Java behemoth actually employed someone who found the time to learn and remember my name and my order. Erika (not her realname) was a rock star to me. She knocked seconds, eventually minutes, off my waiting time. I'd walk in and, boom, a latte was in my hand. A minor thrill, but a thrill nonetheless. Once Erika disappeared from Starbucks, so did I.I just didn't have the patience to endure another hazing for an indeterminate outcome.I learned a bit about Erika. She was a photographer, loved Italian food, listened to more punk rock than most people I knew, had a mutt named after the bass player from her favorite punk band and desperately wanted to move to New Orleans because "as much as I love New York City," she confessed, "I can barely afford The New York Times." I shared some information as well. I told her I had been married for more than 10 years, that I listened to music, including punk rock, six to eight hours a day and that moving to New Orleans was also something my wife and I desperately wanted to do.