Today, just barely two days after Dia de Muertos here in Mexico and all the Halloween festivities, Christmas and Thanksgiving cheer is already in the air. I was running a little late this afternoon for class, so I had no time to cook or do something more elaborate for lunch. So, as a perfectly adequate Starbucks fan, I decided to drop in for the day’s quick lunch and my favorite, Vanilla Latte.
I didn’t even notice, but once I was already lined up at the counter, I saw all the red posters and special items on the menu for this year’s Holiday Season. It suddenly came down on me, Christmas is here! (and it also reminded me of my graduation date btw). So, after reviewing the specials, my eye got stuck on the “Christmas Sandwich”. The barista told me about the turkey, the goat cheese, the apple and pecan bread. It was a reflex, not a thought, “I’ll have that please!” — that and my vanilla latte, let’s not forget–.
Anyway, the point is (aside from my personal cheer of the view and lunch) how quickly everything changed. In a period of 5 days, that’s counting from Oct 31st to Nov 4th, there were four different Holidays in one and Starbucks managed to handle all four of them.
Several critics might say that Seasons or Holidays are largely exploited by businesses around the Globe. It might be true up to a certain point, but, after all, don’t we all look for that warmth in Holidays? Imagine going into a restaurant, or a cafe in this case, and see nothing but a cold cube filled with people just giving you what you ordered. Where’s the warmth? The human touch?
Yes, I must say, I do value very much that human touch. To me, it was priceless for Starbucks to juggle around 4 Holidays and give me a warm, happy lunch before class. To me, it was a Holiday warm up, and it left me with a smile on my face.