Scandal at Starbuck's

Ok, so perhaps scandal is a strong word. However, things at Starbuck's have indeed taken a disturbing turn as of late. Just to give anyone who doesn't follow my schedule closely some background on the situation (haha :-)), 7 of my best friends and I all meet at Starbuck's every Monday night at 8:45 for coffee, and of course a generous cup of conversation. We have been doing this for the past several years, and have come to enjoy a certain sort of "regulars" status at this particular location. (Think of the show "Friends" with Central Perk....) Occasionally, the person who takes our order also gives us a postcard, letter, or package that has been addressed to "The Monday Night Coffee Girls, c/o Starbucks." We practically own the leather couch that replaced our former chartreuse-colored sitting area. The employees who used to work at Starbuck's knew our names, our orders, and probably a fair amount about our lives, as we don't usually do a very good job of keeping our conversations either quiet or appropriate for public consumption. Then, over the past several months, our favorite baristas like Paula and Zach were slowly but surely replaced by generic blond high-schoolers who seem to be planning to learn the art of coffee-drink mixing next week.

Although this is upsetting, his doesn't bother us nearly as much as the newest phenomenon that seems to be sweeping our weekly hang-out. There seems to an alarming trend toward people using Starbuck's as their own personal office, or worse, bedroom! Last week when we walked in, we found that not only was OUR very centrally-located, not-at-all-tucked-in-a-corner couch taken, but it was taken by a very overly amorous couple who did not seem to realize the discomfort that they were causing other patrons. They were not young, foolish middle-schoolers who had nowhere else to express their affections, but people who were probably approximately ten years older than I am! People, it is never appropriate to make out in a coffee shop, especially not in a place that is visible from virtually everywhere else in the store. After they FINALLY relocated their tryst and we were able to reclaim our spot, we were distracted by a group of men doing a RADIO BROADCAST from the next table over. It took all of my willpower not to run over shout something into the microphone. "Get a bedroom!" "Get an office!" This would be very good for business. Just as long as they don't make us stop using Starbuck's as our group's PO Box..... :-)