Star-$

A chill runs down my spine. I fear for my life as I approach the door. I reach out and pull the door ajar and walk in to America’s most popular drug den, Starbucks. I walk to the counter, and look at what to order allowing another patron to pass me. She seems slightly irritated with my lack of immediate and decisive decision. I purchase a tall, although seemingly dwarfed by the other sizes, coffee and a “tall” hot chocolate for my girlfriend. I can proudly say in this day, where people describe cups of coffee to packs of cigarettes saying, “I’m down to four cups a day not including mornings,” to which I can only respond, “Wait! What?”, that this is my first coffee in several months. I pay and we make our way to an open table. She reads a book she is assigned to read causing her to be distracted while I write this. Another chill runs down my back like the first jump into a cold pool. This time it is not because of fear but I realize that the “comfortable coffeehouse” is cold. “Why make something that is meant to be comfortable cold?” The question runs through my mind bouncing off different ideas. My eyes slide back to my coffee. I pick it up for another sip. “Mmm, warm.” It hits my tongue warming me reminding me of being in a warm bed in a cold house, maybe even during Christmas. Holy crap, maybe I’m cold so their product can warm and comfort me. Wow, nice warm drinks at Christmas. My eyes once again drift, I find myself now looking at the lit Starbuck logo in the window. A woman, a crown, a star, and what seem to be fish tails. The woman is not attractive in the least, this company isn’t thinking come have a sexy coffee like so many beer commercials. However, this woman has her arms out as if to hug me. It is welcoming and makes me think of my mother. Wow, good ol’ home brewed coffee, at Christmas. Oh no, they’re at it again this time my neck is an accomplice, it relaxes and my eyes point to the ceiling. I’m nearly blinded by the surprisingly bright lights. The lights are sparse but bright, rays of sunshine on a cloudy day. The very well lit area is the counter which seems to draw me in every time I look at it. Wow, it is Christmas, my family is there, the suns out but snow is still on the ground, and I can have all the homemade coffee I want. Betrayed by another sense of mine, I now hear the music and can’t help but keep the beat by bobbing my head a bit. It is relaxing and almost not there like the conversation of other people downstairs as you’re slipping into a sleep. Wow, it’s Christmas morning, I can hear people talking and mood music, the sun comes in my window and I can smell the fresh coffee downstairs. The walls are covered with pictures that don’t call too much attention they are black and white, not much to notice. Wow, I can see the pictures of relatives on the walls some are downstairs stuffing stockings and having there morning coffee by a bright window. I finished my coffee and now I need to pee. I walk to the bathroom it’s clean enough but not excessively. They are one person bathrooms. Someone knocks on the door and I can hear in my head my little cousin’s voice, “Hurry up! I need to go!” Wow, it Christmas morning, I can hear my relatives, it’s sunny out and the house is cold but I’m nice and cozy. Who knew that Christmas could come more than once a year just by walking into a coffee shop.