Dear Starbucks

Within half an hour of waking up this morning, I realised that I was in for a shit day. It turns out I was not wrong. 

I had to travel for over an hour to get to my first appointment of the day. I decided to make a stop in town to treat myself to a Starbucks. An extra hot, skimmed Chai Tea Latte to be exact. 

Now, I accept that this is a slightly fussy order. I do not order it to sound in any way pretentious. I order it extra hot so that it lasts: I want to enjoy my Starbucks, not have to take it down in one gulp to ensure that it stays warm to the end. I order it skimmed because full fat milk makes me heave. I cannot stand the taste of it. And, I order Chai Tea because it is warm and spicy and on miserable days like today it reminds me of Christmas and keeps me all warmed up. 

The person who took my order repeated it back to me. She then tootled off to make my drink. Mid-drink making, she paused to have a conversation with someone I assume must be a regular customer, or a friend. Please understand, even when I am having a shit day, I do not wish to keep all human beings from social interaction. I simply want my drink. Ideally, the way I ordered it. 

I eventually got the drink. The drink-maker-person handed it over and said (clearly): "here's your extra hot, skimmed Chai Tea Latte". I have never been so thrilled to have a drink in my hand. Satisfied that I had the drink I ordered, I left Starbucks and ran to catch my next train. 

Imagine my disappointment when I took the first sip of my drink (a mere 2 minutes after purchasing it) and discovered that it was in fact a luke-warm, full-fat, something unidentifiable (but definitely not Chai Tea). And especially when I was on a train and could not go back to rectify the situation. It was so awful, I could not drink it. However, I still had to nurse it all the way to my destination, where I eventually found a bin to dispose of it in. 

Spare a thought here for the poor Starbucks drink that never achieved his aim in life, and ended up in a bin far, far away from home. It is very cruel of you to do that to him.

I am holding you personally responsible for the fact that my day turned out to be even more shit than anticipated, and for the fact that I have been in a foul mood for most of it. Had I had my extra hot, skimmed drink of loveliness, things would have been very different. I am rethinking my drinking allegiances. I may even start ordering drinks from Costa. 

Regards, 

Mrs B x