Today I am enjoying a Toffee Nut latte. Mmmm, Starbucks. Now right here imagine I'm saying that as a Homer Simpson impression. Like Mmmmm, Donuts. But now I have a problem. I can't hide my addiction. It's right out there in the open. So here's a list of the reason why I go to starbucks.It makes a great away-from-home office. My addiction to Starbucks began when He Who Shall Remain Nameless (Oh I bet you just sniggered at that) got us studying for essays those many months ago when I was still in uni. Of course, I already frequented Starbucks at that point, just not nearly as often. Utilizing Starbucks as a home office was a turning point. It just made such a convenient place to study. You could sit for hours, use the free wi-fi and no one would bother you. There was even coffee on tap! I fully admit to writing 60% of my degree in Starbucks.
You can sit in there for hours nursing the same drink. This is perhaps the best element of the Starbucks visit. It makes the perfect retreat when you've been caught rain, waiting for a bus, or just hanging out. I've sat around for a whole day and not once been badgered by staff into buying another drink. This, of course, may be because I'm such a regular that they know I will come up eventually for seconds. Or it could also be because generally they don't care provided you don't get cheeky. In fact, the few times I have actually seen management ask people to leave or buy a drink it invariably involves teenagers who think it's perfectly acceptable to take up seats for hours without anyone purchasing a drink. Or the homeless... But they tend to be more forgiving towards them.
Free Wi-fi. This is pretty much self explanatory. There are plenty of places with free wi-fi these days but I've always found Starbucks one of the more useful places to stop because you don't need a password or to sign up. Just connect you device to the Starbucks Openzone signal and hit connect on the Starbucks page that opens up. Simple. No hidden costs, no giving away phone numbers or emails. One simple connect button click and you are one.
Coffee. Nuff said. Starbucks coffee isn't the best. In fact it's so weak I used to order extra shots because the standard number of shots was insufficient.
You can study people. So this is admittedly a personal hobby of mine. I often found myself observing people looooong before undertaking a degree in Sociology and Psychology. If you ever are curious about human behaviour just sit in a crowded place and listen/look at what's going on around you. This always makes for great material if you regularly create any form of art, whether it's writing or painting or what ever.
And finally - You can even meet people. Better yet they aren't all weirdos!! Yep, that's right, have interesting and unusual conversations with complete strangers. Just beware of the loonies... I have fled Starbucks to escape people before.
