This week I'm taking a car-less friend to work, and to satisfy my Starbucks addiction, I've been stopping at a different Starbucks than normal--the one at the Jefferson Point mall here in Fort Wayne. I went there Monday, Wednesday, and today.
All three days I asked for decaf coffee. All three days, I was told, "It's still brewing. If you can wait a few minutes...."
Monday, I opted instead for their medium roast. Yesterday I just left and tried the nearby Krispy Kreme restaurant, where the decaf machine happened to be broken for they didn't know how long.
Today, when the kind folks at the Jefferson Point Starbucks told me it would be about four minutes, I just dropped my head and said, "You're kidding. I've stopped here three times this week, and every time you don't have decaf."
The two young women explained to me, in very understanding, apologetic, visitor-friendly voices that would make managers proud, that they brew (or was it "rebrew"?) every hour, and I just happened to come at that time. In actuality, I was not interested in an explanation of why they couldn't sell me what I came to buy three times in a row. So I just mustered up an aura of displeasure and left in a huff, possibly unbefitting of a church elder. Fortunately, the door was not the slammable type.
Why does Starbucks hate decaf drinkers so much?
Fortunately, Krispy Kreme's machine was fixed, so they accepted my $1.77. It was drinkable.
Career-wise, I've been hanging around and writing about and cheering on churches and pastors for the past 25 years as my denomination's Communications Director.
Steve, why don't you just brew your own coffee, oh gosh, maybe....at home! I have found that I prefer my own to the ohsostrong Starbucks and it saves on my wallet, too. And how can you do coffee without caffeine?
You (whoever you are) sound like my wife, who has been telling me I should brew my own. But then you miss out on the Starbucks "experience."
As for doing without caffeine--this is not my choice, nor my preference. I have Miniere's Disease, and caffeine aggravates it. So does salt. So does stress, which I have less control over. And so does alcohol, which means I've had to cut back on my binge drinking.
"the Starbucks 'experience' ". . . . .
Hmm - not being a coffee drinker, I'm not certain what that Starbucks experience is, but from this (and previous) post(s), it sounds like spending time to be told you can't buy what you want, followed by spending a lot of money for a cup of coffee that you didn't want.