Grande Cup of Sadness

I had the morning off from boot camp yesterday. On my way into the office, I decided to stop by my favorite ol’ Starbucks for a grande cup of frothy goodness… I parked the car and headed up the sidewalk to the door and it was locked! A small sign on the glass stated that this store was closed and to go to nearest location a mile or so down the street. WHAT? Are you kidding me? I was floored! Some couple had just pulled up and saw the sign too… they told me that the store must have closed overnight and without warning because they were just there over this past weekend! How can they close THE busiest Starbucks in Atlanta? This location is perfect too: corner location of a very busy intersection in east Cobb county… the tables on the inside and outside are full of patrons morning, afternoon and night! So how can they close it?! You see, the thing about the one down the street is that it is brand-new and it is a Drive Thru store. I had inquired several times in the past few months if my fave store was going to close with the opening of the new one down the street… their answer every time was NO. I just loved the fact that Helen, the wonderful lady at the cash register knew me by name and always asked about my work, my hubby, my travels, etc. She took an interest in ME. The barista Richard always, ALWAYS made me the BEST, most perfect non-fat lattes ever consumed by man…. So I called Hubby and griped about it…. and then after talking to him I finally decided to go to the new one and just see how it compared. And secretly hoping to find some of my favorite coffee-serving employees from the old one… Let’s just say the new store is about 4 times smaller, very few tables and chairs for enjoying your cup o’ joe in house. I only recognized one lady behind the counter and it was not Helen… this lady did recognize me though and even commented on my weight loss… she told me that the new landlord at their old location jacked the rent up double the usual payment and that they closed and packed up over the weekend. Richard was located at this new location but Helen was on down the way at one I do not frequent. Great! My coffee crew is now disbanded and we have to drive even further for perfect lattes! What a crock!