LAKEWOOD, Colorado, U.S.A. — Okay, I admit I have been sucked in by Starbucks’ marketing ploy that it is, in fact, the sole provider of coffee to a caffeine-starved populace.
What, you can actually get coffee elsewhere? No way! (Cha-ching! Rake in the dough for Starbucks!)
They have a word to describe people like me: coffee-addict. Some people wonder if my coffee cup is super-glued to my hand or if it actually comes loose.
As a senior, I have discovered there are two main uses for Starbucks.
One is to fuel the ever-popular all-nighter so I can frantically write my next term paper. The combination of senioritis and an insanely busy schedule provide excellent conditions for the appearance of an espresso-fueled all-nighter.
Score one for Starbucks.The next and most important reason for Starbucks is hanging out with fellow Starbucks addicts.
In a life filled with schoolwork, classes, working 20 hours a week and reminding my family that I do still exist, friendships can be hard to maintain.
So one of my best friends and I created our Starbucks run. Basically, it is two hours (almost) every Saturday to sit and talk while surrounded by the quiet hum of espresso machines. That is why, for those of us in our last year of high school, Starbucks exists.
If you are not a senior, introduce yourself to Starbucks now.
After all, if you’re going to be spending your entire senior year together, don’t you want to be good friends already?
I think I hear Starbucks calling my name now.
One of the benefits of being a senior at my school is — drum roll, please – off-campus lunch. Starbucks, anyone?
Or perhaps the fine culinary treats of Fazolis or Applebees?
We have the power to choose! Finally, we can eat without the teachers watching us like we were first-graders.
Finally, we don’t have to eat the same thing week in and week out.
But there’s one more benefit to off-campus lunches. It is the one we’ve been anxiously waiting for: waving our non-cafeteria food in front of the underclassmen.
Mmmmm! Aren’t my Burger King onion rings tasty? Isn’t this Juice Stop smoothie wonderful? How are your slices of cafeteria pizza, again and again and again?
We are not completely horrible, though.
Occasionally, moved with compassion by the sight of some poor underclassmen eating Chick-Fil-A for the 106th time, we break down and bring them food from the outside world.
After all, we remember what it was like being a poor sophomore or junior.
You can only eat a Subway cold-cut sandwich so many times.
Lynn Renee Richter is a Reporter for Youth Journalism International.
