Lily loves me. That’s the good news.
I love her, too. Funny thing, though, I don’t even know Lily’s last name. You see, she works at my local Starbucks. She makes a mean flat white.
I do know how to say “thank you” in Vietnamese — sounds like “gahm un.” Her folks hail from Vietnam. One day a man spoke Vietnamese with her and she lit up. So I learned those two words in Vietnamese.
The bad news — or the other good news — is that she recently hurt my feelings.
You see, after my heart attack of a couple months ago, I scaled back my flat white drinking. When I first ordered a tall (that is, a small) instead of my usual venti (large), well, my Starbucks peeps thought there might be a tear in the universe.
I explained that I wanted to cut down on my caffeine and milk intake post heart attack.* Which immediately got them onboard with my change.
But soon I backslid to a grande (medium). Then, with the price difference to move up to a venti size so enticingly small … well, I was back to venti.
The other day when Lily was delivering my drink, she saw its size and questioned, “You’re already back to a venti?”
Ouch! It felt like when I’ve disappointed my kids or wife or other loved ones.
Because … Lily is a loved one. I care about her — like so many of her workmates whom I’ve gotten to know. And she cares about me, a venti-size concern! She wants me to live. More than the extra 20 – 30 cents her employer might make from the larger drink.
When I mention Starbucks, many think about it being a liberal corporation.** I, however, think about the mostly young people I’ve met, working their butts off to advance themselves while being so kind and decent with customers; thoughtful in conversation.
Young people these days … I love ’em.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
Illustration created with ChatGPT4o and Firefly
* For the record, this change wasn’t something my cardiologist specifically advised; just me trying to improve my diet to live a long time.
** Consider that back in 2020 Starbuck’s pioneering CEO Howard Schultz wasn’t “progressive” enough to be comfortable running for president in the Democratic Party.