Last Friday, on my day off, I picked up breakfast for a friend who is recovering from a broken leg.
After all the press I had read about Starbuck's improved breakfast offer, I decided to give the oatmeal a try. The oatmeal sounded like a healthy, safe choice. It comes with dried fruit, brown sugar and nuts, so my friend could customize it. A nice change from the usual bagel or fat-burdened egg/sausage sandwich right?
The barista opened two cardboard bowls, added hot water, put a top on the container and the oatmeal was ready to go before my drinks were.
As I unpacked the bag in my friend's kitchen, we were both excited to give the oatmeal a try. After struggling a bit to open the fruit bits' plastic packaging, we dug in. We were both impressed by the texture of the oatmeal and the add-ons. It was tasty and wholesome and made us feel superior to those poor, unadventurous, uneducated saps chowing down on sugared pastries while commuting or reading the paper back at Starbucks.
Then it happened. Half way through, I discovered a hair in the oatmeal. Human, I assumed, though it didn't match the hair I remembered on my server's head.
Though it's unlikely I'll ever be a victim of oatmeal hair again, I can't say I'll ever buy Starbuck's breakfast again either. Which, with my on-the-go lifestyle, will mean a few hundred dollars of lost sales per year for my local store.
It took 2 seconds to turn a great "I'm getting this every week!" experience into a gag-worthy, tell-my-friends grossfest. -- Barbara Grondin Francella
Comments