Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Grande Decision

I did it. After sleeping Not At All on Sunday night, I walked in to my job bright and early and announced that I was resigning. It seems a little funny to “resign” from something I had barely started, but I am quite sure I want no mas of the commute, the cold, and the website-losing.

I also woke up early enough to stop by Starbucks, on my way in, and drop off an application.

I may be done with books for a little while.

I am not sure how long I will last at the espresso machine making tall skinny cinnamon blahblahblah lattes with random high school and college kids, especially while I’m still off caffeine… but the commute would be awesome.

My friend M sent me an e-mail, yesterday, asking why don’t I go work for a bookstore, instead? And I replied that bookstores, especially independents, just don’t pay enough. Plus, I would not really want to work at a Barnes & Noble or Borders because I don’t like what they’re doing to the independents.

At about this time, I could almost hear M snorting, via e-mail.

“But you’re o.k. with working at Starbucks?”

“Totally different,” I responded. “Starbucks offers their employees benefits.”

“Ah,” said M.

“Plus… I’m o.k. with supporting the big guy when they have a superior product.” I’m sorry, but around here, the few independents that exist have decent atmospheres, but their coffee is just not as good. And usually costs just as much, if not more. I like supporting independents, I am o.k. with driving a little further, or spending a little more to keep them alive, if the end product is good. But I am hard pressed (ha ha, like coffee beans are pressed? Ha? ... No?) to find better coffee than Starbucks in Colorado. Do any of you Coloradoans have any recommendations?

Meanwhile, I explained to Kanga and Tulip that it wasn’t them, I just couldn’t handle the commute, and Kanga asked, “Well, how soon do you need to be out of here?”

And I said, “Oh, I’m flexible. I’m happy to stay around for a few more days to make this as smooth of a transition as possible.” And he nodded, and I haven’t heard any more on the subject. So perhaps I will be writing from home tomorrow. Perhaps I will still be making the commute next week. But I will be practicing my “Soy chai no whip” routine until then.

6 comments:

Heather said...

Good for you...

And lol at the Starbucks vs. other conglomerates rationale...you sound JUST like my boss in that regard - she used to work for Starbucks.

As for coffee better than starbucks, it is rare, but I LOVE this place. They may as well be called City of Loveland Employee Coffee - as this little coffee shop is the Cheers for City staff...performance eval? lunch? need to discuss a new project? Why let's go to the Coffee Tree...

Seriously good coffee, awesomely great people. You should come check it out some time, if ever you wander north. And, they are in a really good, independent bookstore, too.

Kristin Edgar said...

Hi! Haven't been to visit in ages - yay to you for saying no to those Fair-Labor-Standards-Act-violating, OSHA-undermining, job-description-misrepresenting employers. As for your opinions on Starbucks coffee, I am rather appalled and think that it is time you made a trip to Amante Coffee with me (unlike you and your technology savvy blogger friends, I cannot create my own hyperlink in a non-Word document, so you'll have to google the place). Their lattes are a frothy milk-whipped cup of heaven, the likes of which I have only tasted in the coffee bars of western Europe...and, let's face it, a trip down the block is much cheaper than a trip to Europe. Hope you are taking a nice vacation prior to your "grande soy chai no whip" duties.

meno said...

Well good for you. Did you mention the no heat too? that owuld have done it for me. I hate being cold.

I'd like a grande Green Tea (one tea bag) with two honeys and a half inch of soy milk please. Oh, and a chocolate chip cookie, the one with M&Ms in it.

Marcia said...

I AM SO PROUD OF YOU!!!

And dude, now I want to go to Denver to visit you at a starbucks.

Anonymous said...

I've worked for Borders before, and it ain't that bad, really. Plus, you get a 30% discount on everything, even bargain remainder books. I'm all about the independents these days, but when I was unemployed a few years ago, I definitely considered going back. It's not exactly a sweatshop. :P

librarian pirate said...

I could give you a couple of decent places in Grand Junction, but for the most part Starbucks has the best coffee there (as well as here in Chicago). I seem to recall my dad saying he found some great places near the capitol (perhaps one had a name that had to do with monkeys?), but I may have been hallucinating.

Starbucks is also not a bad place to work - I did it for a few summers in college, and they take care of their people which is always good. PLUS all of their frappucinos are made with fair trade coffee. That makes me happy.