It is a cool, crisp day in Seattle, a day when you speak and your very words crystallize before you, white haze diffusing through the freshly rained atmosphere. Across the street I spot a Starbucks, part of the coffee Mecca of the world. My eyes become fixated on the international symbol of the green and white savior of a mermaid, an image rapidly thrust forward to the eyes of caffeine-dependents like me. I stand there and contemplate my very actions, tapping my foot against the damp concrete, furrow my brows, and then retreat across the street to retrieve my tall mocha.
What could it be with these big corporation coffee companies like Starbucks taking over people's minds? The trend today is to walk about holding a Starbucks latté, especially during the early hours of the day. If I drive around downtown, latté drinkers are visible everywhere strewn about the sidewalks or briskly walking to work. Businessmen, businesswomen, artists, musicians, high school students, college students, dot com entrepreneurs, employees of local stores, and your average Joe are seen with this steaming beverage, coffee, in the brand of their choice.
Coffee, c'est la mode. Or at least that's what it seems to be at the moment, the rage of the day here in Seattle. The label of Seattle as the "Coffee Mecca" has been bestowed upon us and drilled into our minds. It's like we've been programmed to purchase these energy-boosters at excessive daily rates. Fashionable in this urban setting is to walk about flaunting your cup of Joe; this cup gives you the appearance of ambition, sophistication, and flair; it is an accessory to one's wardrobe. This is especially true for young-career driven women and men too. This cup can enhance one's image because the thought of caffeine makes one think of the individual consuming this beverage as a hard-working, sleep deprived soldier in today's society. A lack of sleep is a sign of power and hard work, dedication, success, and ambition to one's career and work; and by drinking coffee, it is a sign of the need to heal the sleep-deprivation of the hard worker from their arduous work schedule, to boost their more awake-state for the individual to keep working. So, why not add a caramel macchiatto to your everyday wardrobe?
Starbucks and other coffee shops have created a universal language that can be heard through all of its locations, "Triple venti non-fat mocha, double-tall latté with a shot of caramel, grand soy-tchai, etc." These phrases can be as foreign as Swahili is to the unfamiliar of the coffee world. Yet the language of coffee unites its connoisseurs.
The atmospheres created in these coffee-centers are urban, mellow, and relaxing. Starbucks-chain shops caress their customers with musical sounds drifting through the ambiance, setting the mood for coffee drinkers, the smooth sounds of the midnight beats of Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, or other relaxing neo-jazz compositions. If the coffee drinker finds these tunes appealing, they are most often available for purchase inside the store. At one Starbucks, the music is softly played outside the store beside the sidewalk, Louis Armstrong seems to lure you into the store, and as the door swings open you get a whiff of the earthy aroma lingering you senses. So, why not take the mood-creator home to create such an atmosphere within one's habitat with a latté to go?
The seating arrangements are unique as well, comfy with couch-like chairs strewn about along with the traditional café chairs and table for two, three, or four. Here, another part of the coffee culture has been taken on, coffee as the social implement and element of Seattle. In coffee shops, like Starbucks you'll see people sitting about chatting, reading, or just enjoying their drink-observing people like the many Parisian coffee drinkers at street cafés. At one Starbucks, an I-Mac is provided for the urbane to check and send e-mails in their hectic, career-driven lives. Artworks by local artists are hung up on the walls of the already decorated interior space. These pieces of art change through time to give another local artist exposure and popularity gain. Your daily newspapers are readily available: The New York Times, The Seattle Times, and The Seattle Post-Intelligencer. But not so long ago the more independent papers like The Stranger that added a more innovative, fresh mix to the expected and usual was taken out. It was claimed to have taken up more space than needed. Starbucks is a place to chat with friends, colleagues, have informal business meetings and such. Much goes on within the doors containing the aroma of freshly roasted coffee beans.
Nowadays, one cannot only enjoy lattés with biscotti cookies or other baked goods, but one can also have a complete meal at Starbucks with the emergence of Starbucks Cafés. Here you can enjoy overpriced sandwiches, gourmet pizzas, etc. It is a perfect place for a luncheon meeting and a latté.
