Starbucks-ified and why not!

On this Sunday afternoon I have been reading personal stories of people in Readers Digest, that nostalgic magazine which I have been grown up with and they are awe-inspiring. I thought of writing down my own story on this Sunday afternoon about something nice and serene in my own life and it has to incidentally do with a commercial enterprise called Starbucks. Starbucks opened in my city, Hyderabad in the year 2014 and I did not visit any of their outlet till the fall of 2021, when the first unlock period during the pandemic happened. As I was frustrated for being at home for a while, I thought of spending the entire day in a mall and as soon as I entered the mall, from a distance and in a translucent view from the pupils of my eyes, I could see some hustle and bustle inside the Starbucks cafe which is a prominent space in the mall. I thought of just entering and checking out what's on offer and I was totally unaware of what lay in store for me.

As soon as I entered the place, there was this guy who was standing at the entrance, wearing a mask and he scanned my body temperature and very cheerfully asked, "Sir how are you doing"? After my reply that I was doing really well, he asked me if he could help me place my order (there was a long queue) and I ended up buying a short latte with Almond milk, which he delivered to my table. I observed the people there. Some of them had their Macs opened and were cheerfully discussing new business ideas. There was some soothing Jazz on the speakers and few people were reading books while there were few who were just chatting and having a good time. I opened my Kindle application and started reading a Murakami with my latte.

The same guy who got my drink came to me and asked me if I needed something else. Then he asked me to download the app to get new offers and I saw one that tempted me. It was for the price of Rupees 2000 (around $25), they were offering 10 tall mugs of coffees or any drink within the same price range and I took that offer. That day, I fell in love with the space, ambience, energy and the sounds of the coffee being made for the customers. Many of my friends call Starbucks overpriced and a place that offers substandard coffee, but I do not agree as my objective is slightly different. Whenever I go to Starbucks, I end up spending at least 3-4 hours. As majority of my work gets done from home, I carry some of it to Starbucks and in an atmosphere that furthers my creativity, I get a great deal of things done. And as a lactose averse person, I get many kinds of milks to choose from, for my coffee. I also love talking to their well-trained staff, learning their stories and their ambitions in life. And when I look outside the sound proof glass door, I see the busy city going about its day to day chaos or sometimes when it rains, I just admire, absorb and savor while sipping a Hot chocolate.

Yes, I am starbucks-ified or let me say "Starbuxified". I heard the latter term recently in a meeting with one of the best coaches I know (I am also part of their network). I recently saw a quote, "You call it Starbucks while I call it love". This sums up my fascination for Starbucks. My hack is going there when they open the store and eventually feel the positive vibe of people coming in and spending their time. Because of my Mindfulness attunement, Starbucks acts as an interesting catalyst, making me go to a semi-flow state, helping me add on to my daily repertoire of positive emotions.

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