It’s not often one can pull off actually shocking Katie.
She’s genuinely one of the most unflappable and steady persons I’ve ever known and given the range of people that encompasses, that’s saying something.
So you might well imagine my delight in not only shocking her to her core but darned near leaving her speechless in the process which is another rarity.
Katie had a Sunday shift at the Starbucks in the Wiggins Library on Campbell’s campus and she needed me to give her a lift down to Buies Creek and then collect her after her shift was over.
I had a massive pile of paperwork and other rubbish including a massive amount of political mail from Indecision 2024TM as well as some writing for the websites that had been neglected so I figured I’d camp out for a few hours in the student union and attend to those tasks without the usual distractions in The Nerdery.
That’d save me at least a round-trip to Raleigh and back and tidy up the desk for the first time in months so high fives all round, I say! 🙂
A couple of hours later, I’ve sifted through all of the useless mail and sorted the paperwork so I figured I’d stretch my legs and dump half of the stuff I’d brought with me into the boot of the Traverse.
I wasn’t too far from Katie’s campus Starbucks and I’ve very rarely seen her in her barista habitat (whether it was at the White Oak Target or at Campbell) and I figured I’d drop in on her and see how she was getting on before making my way back to the student union and start getting to churning out some content for the blogs until she finished her shift.
Now…anyone who knows me at all will be very well acquainted with my absolute loathing for coffee in any form which is exceptionally unusual in a population of IT nerds whose blood chemistry is usually over half coffee for weeks leading up to the release weekends.
I’ve never cared for the smell of it at all as I genuinely find it rather nauseating and the two times I’ve actually tried to drink it in my life I failed miserably with the only saving grace being that I didn’t actually vomit. And *THAT* was after putting enough sugar into the coffee mug that it reached about half way to the top!
That’s enough of a sign that this is a drink that truly isn’t for me.
Now, *TEA* on the other hand is something I can never get enough of. And yes, I know they have tea on the menu but there’s no way I’m going to want a cup of tea from anywhere whose atmosphere has been permeated for years with that most appalling of scents. I’ll happily stick with my Twinings Earl Grey (if it was good enough for Her Majesty The Late Queen, it was certainly good enough for a common wretch such as me!) brewed in a coffee-free zone, thank you very much! 🙂
When I was in the habit of doing a Starbucks run for those who actually drink that stuff, I can assure you that the revulsion that was clearly visible to anyone who was watching me was not at all feigned. It was *VERY* real and it’s a miracle I didn’t lose the contents of my stomach!
I really loved those drive up windows where they had a blower fan directing the coffee stench right into my face.
It’s bad enough I’ve got that wretched liquid passing underneath my nose…the blower was just insult to injury.
So it should be clear that Starbucks or any place like it is not a place I tend to willingly go and Katie knows that very well.
That’s why the absolutely shocked look on her face when she looked up and saw who had come through the door of her exceptionally not so busy campus Starbucks was *SO* priceless!
Her two co-workers, one of whom was a newly hired employee that she was in the process of training, didn’t have a clue who I was until it became patently clear that not only did I know Katie but that she couldn’t exactly deny knowing me when I told her where I was camping out in the student union.
I’m sure her afternoon’s conversation behind the counter was far more lively than her morning had been!
Seeing her shook and then leaving her to work out what she was going to say afterward was well worth the brief foray into the realm of unwelcome smells!
And to be fair, the actual location does have some gorgeous wood appointments throughout the location that are very pleasing to the eye if I could ever get past the coffee stench that permeates the atmosphere.
She’ll find out as a prosecutor that sometimes unexpected things happen to keep you on your toes.
From what I can tell, she’s got a natural talent for rolling with the punches… 🙂
