The Green Lady

Figure 1.

      When opening the door to Starbucks in the Commons, the first thing visible is the green lady posted on the wall (figure 1). One can barely focus while walking into what seems to be like the core of all college students' lives. An utter classic coffee shop feeling arrives when stepping onto the dark brown oak wooden floors, the authentic burnt red brick walls to the right and glass windows to the left make such a good impression. The setting of this place gives the feel of a partial black and white movie. Set up on the brick walls are beautifully framed black and white photos of expresso shots, bags full of coffee beans and of course the very first Starbucks ever built in 1971(Figure 2). The softly lit room brought a sense of relaxation to myself and all of the customers who walked in from the snowy weather with their big bubbly coats and boots to get their hot or iced beverages. While waiting to interview the Starbucks barista, the baked goods and sandwiches sitting in their glass case to the left of the checkout counter seemed to be calling my name. Various kinds of smells perfumed the air. They made breakfast, from the slow roasted ham and Swiss melt to the spinach and feta wrap. The variety of baked goods slowly faded away as customers came in asking for the classic glazed donuts, creme colored cake pops, salted caramel tarts and cranberry bliss bars.

         "She's here to interview me for her English project do you mind?" I hear as I snap out of my fantasy of food. There is Katelyn Palumbo, a freshman at BU standing behind the desk nervously asking another worker for permission to be apart of my project. She pulls her brown wavy hair out of her face and smiles awkwardly as she makes her way towards me from the back of the counter. From the second she greets me hesitantly with her hands on her face I figure I will have to put a lot more effort into making her really talk about herself and why she likes to be a barista. "I just work here to have something to do and um I actually hate coffee," she quietly laughes, "but I like to work with them. I love like crafting drinks." The barista talks as she bites her lip making eye contact with everyone but me. Looking up at the grey and white menu board hanging over the back counter, there are over twenty dissimilar drinks that can be made. The many different sections were called Espresso, Coffee and more, Teavana Shaken Tea, Teavana hot Tea, Frappuccino, Smoothies and Starbucks Refreshers. "Um customers love the Caramel Macchiato, Vanilla Latte, and um the Frapps; caramel or vanilla bean," she nonchalantly says. "It takes 27 seconds to make an expresso shot and we keep the milk at 143 degrees. Also the lighter the roast the more caffeine," she blurts out. Katelyn seems like the type of person who may come off as a bit timid until she gets a little more comfortable. Leaning up against the condiments table with her hand on her hip dragging a smirk across her face she exclaims "My favorite is the Valencia orange refresher in case you were wondering," she giggles. 

       Although she dreams of franchising a Starbucks one day, she has had her bad and even funny moments. "One morning the line was the longest it had ever been and the water spout broke and was like spraying everywhere!" she exclaims. "Everyone just laughed and started taking pictures some people left, probably to go to the Starbucks in the library." When it comes to rude customer she begins to explain, "It depends on how in love they are with Starbucks. Some want them to be like perfect and others don't really care" she continues to say, "there is always this one guy who comes in and tells us step by step how to make the drink he wants, hes not rude so I just go along with it. When it comes to extremely rude customers I just have to like brush it off."
"I usually come here once a day, sometimes they're quick." says one devoted customer. "I can tell when a worker is new because they will seem confused but they're always nice," she says as she waits for her order. I can tell that a lot of customers can agree that the service here is not so bad.

       As Katelyn returns back to work I decide to order a hot chocolate. Starbucks has their own terms here, I always have to remember that small, medium, large and even extra large go by the names short, tall, grande, and venti. "That will be $3.84, flex?" the cashier questions. "Would you like an iTunes gift card with that?" she offers. I step to the left and wait for my hot chocolate to arrive. I can see how cautious Katelyn is while she crafts my beverage with such preciseness making sure to put just the right amount of chocolate powder into the steamed milk. After grabbing my drink I go sit on the brown leather couch in the slightly brighter dining area on the opposite side of the room. Couples and friends sit all around, talking and laughing sipping on their white and clear cups while the beautiful crowned green lady sits watching her people enjoy the mark she has made on the world. The pictures in this room were different from the others. They were full of color and of people laughing and having fun (figure 3). Sitting at the high wooden table across from me is a group of diverse college kids who seem to be working on a project discussing what topic to use. I cannot help but to hear a new couple in the midst, they seem to just be getting to know each other. The boy looks into her eyes while hiding behind his black cap trying hard not bite his fingers. I can tell that he is really interested in what she is saying as she rubs the sleeve of her peach colored fleece sweater on the brick wall swaying her head from side to side. We all have one thing in common and that is the love for the green lady.

Figure 3.

     

      Stepping down on the main floor to leave I can still see that Katelyn working hard; Explaining to the employees how different types of drinks are made. I could have mistaken her for the manager if I had not already met her. The steam from my hot chocolate fills the cold air around me as I make my way up the steps to Luzerne. Just like everyone else, I get to sip on my beverage as the green lady watches the impact she has made on the world.