Starbucks Gold Card

My coveted Gold Card

I got my Starbucks gold card in the mail this week. It was exciting! I opened up the note that enclosed my designer Starbucks card and read how much I am appreciated by Starbucks for being such a loyal, registered client, and the next day I went out and put a balance on it. I am 17 drinks away from automatic renewel of my gold star status for another year! Exciting!

It's weird how something so trivial made me feel so important. It's just a card with my name on it, it's not like it's made of real gold. But being recognised as not just a customer but a valued client made me feel good. It doesn't matter to me that the only reason I have reached that point is because I get Starbucks nearly every day; I would regardless of whether or not I had a Starbucks card. Maybe it's a free rewards, maybe it's the free birthday drinks, and free drink every 15 stars (stars = purchases). But maybe it's just because I feel important. Maybe it's the odd pleasure I get from not just passing on any old card to my barrista, but my gold card with my name on it and everything!

You're probably thinking that I'm crazy by now. You may be right. But I think the point is this: people love to made to feel important. I love feeling like I am single-handedly keeping my local Brittania Plaza starbucks afloat, and then getting a card that recognises my patronage. My husband loves it when I tell him that he is a great provider, and I couldn't be where I am today without him. People love knowing that they are respected by their significant others, their colleagues, their friends, and their families. We all love feeling as if we are performing an important service for someone, whether it be paying for dinner, bringing home a pay cheque, or cleaning the house.

So do just that. Make the people that you love feel important and respected. Tell them, write to them, do things for them without them asking, speak to them in whatever love language they resonate with. You will be rewarded greatly.

-SP

16 And Pregnant

Venti Berryblossom tea misto (or tea latte), non-fat, sugar-free vanilla

I went to Starbucks today, as I usually do during my lunch break. I love Starbucks. I love the atmosphere, the coffee, the free Wifi, and the alone time. I like being anonymous, other than the fact that I am a regular, and the staff at the Starbucks I frequent knows what to get started when I enter the building. I like watching people interact with each other, not knowing that someone is observing; it's sometimes funny what you see. And today was different.

The coffee house was buzzing! There were grandparents there with their infant grandchild, the grandfather sitting sleepily, his eyes barely open, and the grandmother in her home made sweater, curled hair and white dangling earrings looked at the baby with admiration and love. There was an older couple, neither with wedding rings on, talking quietly in the corner. There were business people with their laptops, coffee in one hand reports in the other. But what stuck out to me the most were the kids.

There must be a school nearby. Three teenage girls sat in the coffee shop, talking, giggling, just being girls, and as I left, five more came charging in my direction, laughing and making jokes, one with her lunchbox in hand. What was so exciting? What were they talking about? I tried to think back to when I was that age. I couldn't be separated from my girlfriends. But I went to a rural school at that age, so we couldn't have outings like this. We would talk about boys, about teachers, about how unreasonable our parents were, about all the things we wanted to do but couldn't because we didn't have a car...is that still the same? Is the innocence of youth still prevalent?

This world is changing quickly. Ten years ago, there wouldn't be reality television highlighting teen pregnancy, and there wouldn't be shows like that now if it was not a large, controversial issue in our society. Don't get me wrong, I am not judging families that are dealing with the loss of innocence of their children...that is not for me to criticize. I just don't understand how we got here. My heart breaks for these children and their parents.


I'm not really sure how my wandered here, but it's something that I have considered a lot in the past few years. My sister is 14. I can't imagine her doing anymore than giggling with her friends about a boy she likes, and I hope that it stays that way for a while longer. I guess it scares me that this issue is becoming accepted as the norm. What I mean is, I grew up in an unhealthy environment. I know it doesn't take much for a young girl to seek solace in the things of this world when she isn't being loved in the way a child should be. I think that that is the bigger problem than teen pregnancy, and teen pregnancy is just the cover that people hide behind because they don't want to deal with the root issues. I'm rambling...this is a whole other topic for another time.

I pray that those girls I saw today are able to be kids and enjoy life. And I pray that one day, when I am a mom, my kids will be able to do the same. But what we, as a society, call normal shouldn't be, and one day there will be consequences. These kids are the leaders of tomorrow. Let's build them up so that they can.

Author's Note: My opinion pertains mostly to North American culture. I understand that cultural differences throughout the world may make these thoughts not applicable.

-SP