This Is Not the Life I Ordered -- They Call It Starbucks for a Reason

 I'm not a luxury coffee drinker, but I did feel like sitting in a coffee shop recently instead of reading alone at home. The pandemic lockdown cured my compulsion to "go somewhere" every day and especially night, but I still like the occasional people-watching communal vibe of cafe culture while I'm reading. So while I was downtown -- should we even still call it that? 😅-- I went to Starbucks in the West Village, the one on Seventh near 12th Street that has all the delicious looking croissant and focaccia sandwiches and everyone literally looks like a million bucks. Now, I hadn't been to a Starbucks in years (other than to drain my bladder), probably since the pandemic, but I was prepared to pay an extra dollar or two for a small coffee that came with a little amusement and stolen glances by and at other gay men. So I ordered a "tall" coffee, their smallest cup, black, no sugar.

"$4.60."

Huh? There was no way I was paying more than it costs for a single stuffed to the rafters chicken taco at Chipotle for a cup of drained beans. So I cheaped out and went to a nearby bodega and ordered one for $1.75 and sat on a bench and enjoyed the brisk autumn wind and parade of attractive rich people and micro-celebrities that always look so well put together cavorting or sitting on the stoops in the ridiculously gorgeous and twisting streets of the West Village.

What I'm wondering now is, is that just that location (and those like it) with those anabolic prices (and pretty food) or has Starbucks really gotten to the point of charging nearly five bucks for about 10 oz of black coffee. I'm going to check out the location at Lenox and 125th near where I live up here in Harlem and find out if the coffee chain is really this committed to living up to its name.