The Starbucks I go to every morning when I go to work has closed down for renovations. They estimate that they will be back open in July.
This is pretty much the worst news I’ve heard in my entire life and I am legitimately upset over this recent development.
Honestly, I don’t really know what to do moving forward. I can handle the interruption of my morning ritual, but I can’t handle the denial of a consistent delivery of caffeine. As much as I may bitch and whine about all the students and corporate stiffs who get there before I do and plug up the lines, I’ve literally gone to this Starbucks almost every single work day, and quite a few weekend days that I’ve happened to be in the neighborhood. I can probably count on one hand how many work days in which I did not go to Starbucks.
Not being able to go again for the next two months and possibly some change, will, and has already devastated me. The first of many anticipated caffeine-deprived headaches has already set in, and has altered my mood, my gym workout, as well as my general state of being, and I fear that this is going to happen a lot until Starbucks opens again.
Obviously, I need solutions, to my now daily-dilemma of where my caffeine is going to come from. As if I couldn’t make this sound any more insufferable, there’s actually another Starbucks within reasonable walking distance. It’s four blocks away from the office, but because it’s not one block away like the renovating one, I’m calling in lazy and discounting it as an option. Perhaps if it were the fall or the winter, I’d reconsider, but with the temperatures already hitting the 90s, it’s simply too fucking hot, and I don’t want to come back all sweaty and gross feeling, toting hot coffee for four blocks.
There’s always the other local eateries that advertise coffee, which may win out, but I lose the convenience of having a dedicated card that earns me free shit by going to them, so I may have to consider carrying some coffee-allocated cash until July.
Energy drinks and alternatives to coffee are also on the table, but frankly, the idea of also consuming upwards of 360g of sodium don’t sound very appealing either. An energy drink is the only thing keeping me going at this moment, but I’d have concerns over the massive quantities of sodium and other shit that’s swilled in with carbonated drinks over the next two months going this route.
And then there’s always bringing in my own coffee. If I worked at a cool agency or studio, coffee is one of those things that’s often times provided by the company, but alas, that’s not the case for me. It’s almost amazing that this place has a Keurig machine at all, but the fact of the matter is that I’d have to bring in my own K-cups if I want to have coffee. This is a logical route that saves me time, and honestly probably a little bit of money, but at the same time, I’d be lying if I didn’t say a coffee walk wasn’t entirely done for the sake of just caffeine.
These are my options, but I’d rather not have had to have thought of them in the first place. But for whatever reason, my Starbucks felt the need to renovate; I can’t imagine the place is going to be any more efficient (or not) than it already is, given the corporate policy to not separate basic drip coffee customers from those who want to have a venti espresso Americano with a sweet and low and two Splendas, with fat-free soy milk, and a shot of hazelnut. I can’t imagine how renovating the place is going to make it any better or worse than it already is, but that may very well just be the point; looking like all the other Starbucks, regardless of the customer experience.
I understand that this is a picture perfect definition of a first world problem, but god damn it, I’m a creature of habit, and I like to have my caffeine in the form of coffee in the mornings. And this Starbucks closing on account of renovation really does throw my daily life into somewhat of a tailspin.
