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Sometimes I don’t know what to believe as I sit here in Starbucks and observe people. Today is a prime example. A lady walked into Starbucks. She probably is one of the most friendly people that has walked into the store all day. She has something nice to say to just about every person she comes into contact. Completely complimentary, she would be a perfect match for anyone fishing for compliments.
After getting her drink, she sits along the window about midway in the store. From there, she can watch every person who enters the store…and she does. She makes compliments to each person as they make their way to the counter to make an order. Finally, a gentleman with a shiny black leather briefcase enters the store. As he walks by, she compliments his “beautiful briefcase.” At first, he doesn’t understand what she says. Then she says it again follows him as he makes his way to a table in the corner. As the gentleman sits down, the conversation continues.
Within moments, I notice that the lady has brought out her business cards…. which ironically enough have the Starbucks logo on them. As I try not to stare I notice that they aren’t exactly like the business cards that the manager of this Starbucks store has. Hers are all white. This lady’s business card is white on the front and a sheeny green on the back. The logo is on the front. If I had to make a guess from previous purchases of my own, they came from VistaPrint. As the lady shares her business cards she explains to the gentleman that she is a Starbucks manager. He asks her if she manages this store and she says no.
As she continues to talk she explains that she is a Starbucks manager that owns franchises of Starbucks. My eyebrow went up at this point as Starbucks has been very clear that they don’t do the franchise thing. The conversation continued. She explained that her franchises were in Santa Barbara. The man started talking about Santa Barbara and asking questions about the town… at which point the conversation apparently started to twist and turn.
The next twist of the conversation was that it turns out she not only is a Starbucks franchise owner, she is also a medical doctor. At this point, a bunch of girls came in and sat next to me and the empty echoing Starbucks suddenly became loud and hard to hear. The conversation ended within minutes and the lady returned to her seat. From then on, the guy wouldn’t make eye contact with her.
These are the sort of adventures I love at Starbucks. The store was empty and the conversation was loud and easily heard from across the room. What exactly was happening and what the truth is, I’ll probably never know. Before she left, she purchased another gift card and then some time later got another drink. Finally, she walked out the door and down the street. As she walked out the door I couldn’t help but wonder what her story really is… maybe this story will continue to unfold…
On to the next adventure!
