Why I Choose. . .

                                         

Why I choose this Greek God

over this Mythical Mermaid

Many of you are familiar, I have NO DOUBT, with Starbucks coffee company. In fact, Trinity even has some stock in it. It was a gift. Starbucks is not my favorite coffee but it is reliable in that it tastes the same wherever you go. I'm always down for a Vanilla nonfat Latte though I'm not much for branching out in my coffee selection. I could go for all the teas and summer drink junk that the lovely lady offers but I simply can't afford regular purchases at the prices they have THAT ARE ONLY GOING to go UP if the coffee shortage has it's way. 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/02/21/dont-panic-but-theres-a-global-coffee-shortage/

Anywhoo. . .most companies that you purchase frequently at offer a Rewards program and Starbucks is no different, except that it only rewards those who drink daily if not multiple times a day from their overpriced menu. The kicker is, you must purchase a gift card (or receive one) and then register it and ALWAYS use that same card. Oh you can have multiple cards on your account but last time I looked my wallet didn't have room for six Starbucks cards that I have no idea what amounts are on anymore. Also, the rewards are all based on "stars" that you earn. You can earn them sometimes by buying certain coffee beans. I don't drink coffee at home. You can earn them by having a particular drink they are highlighting. Did I mention I only like a few select ones? You can earn them by buying a drink for three consecutive days. I never buy three coffees in three days, I would be broke. Are you getting the picture? Even my free birthday drink was inaccessible to me because I didn't have a registered card to load it on. A friend kindly bought me an egift on Facebook. It clearly said to print it and take it to the barista, which I did today. The barista tried to tell me I had to take it home and register it and wait for the gold star card to arrive in the mail. Excuise me? I showed him what the directions on the printout said and another barista came to the window to look it over. Turns out I was right, I only needed that printout, but if I wanted to get ALL the amazing rewards then I would need to register it. They didn't seem to understand that I DIDN'T have any desire to be part of a club that seemingly saves you money but in the end would have me spending three times my usual coffee budget before I started earning. It's like being in line at the store and the deal is get five bucks off when you spend twenty-five but you're at 23.99 so you go buy some piece of junk or candy you don't need just to "save" money. Ha! We've all done that. No deal and sooooo aggravating. I'm INTENSELY tired of having to have a card for every store I enter in order to save money. What a racket. 

So on my birthday, since I didn't have a REGISTERED card and hadn't yet printed my egift I stopped by my favorite local coffeeshop, MERCURY's Coffee. They know me there because I go the back way to bible study every Wednesday to get my tall non-fat milky way. They put CHOCOLATE COVERED COFFEE BEANS on your cup AND give your kids a sucker. They aren't cheap but sometimes that is the only coffee I purchase all week and it is WORTH it. When I pulled up she said "tall non-fat milky way?" and I said "make it a Grande because it's my birthday." to which she replied "Happy Birthday and here's your drink for free". Boom. That. Just. Happened. I drove away happily enjoying my %100 organic fair trade coffee with hormone free milk. Mercury's puts coupons in the mailers. Regular old $1.99 for any drink 20 ounces and under coupons. Also, when you fill a pre-paid card you don't have to "register" it and they give you a free drink straight up right away for loading it with a certain amount.. . AND they carry Pumpkin Spice all year round. You can't ask for more than that. Okay, so I'm really not trying to disparage Starbucks. They have an incredibly successful company and lord knows when I'm in a foreign counrty I will look for that two tailed she-devil and gleefully shove my Euros or whatever I have at her. Here at home however, I am content to chase the fleetest of pleasures at Mercury's. (Get it? "Fleetest" - Mercury / the messenger of the gods?) and parallel to that, why is the coffee cup always empty so fast? Another rant for another time.