I got stuck in the Starbucks drive-thru with plenty of time. Then I was late.
When I was doing in-home consulting I was not a drip coffee drinker. For years I drank a soy chai tea latte. That was my hot beverage order and I stuck with it. Once I discovered a sensitivity to soy milk I was pretty averse to that beverage. I switched to mochas. Whoa. Anyway! Ok, I didn’t make those drinks at home which is why this scenario happened often.
I was going to be early for my session. Forever that was the rule. I can’t stop for ANYTHING unless I am out of the house early. This almost always has the intended result. I am ready and out of the house early to access my preferred morning reinforcer.
I pull into the Starbucks drive-thru in plenty of time. Plenty. It’s a long line but it moved quickly yesterday. I start scrolling Instagram, consider pausing my audiobook, but don’t. Switch to Facebook, pause the audiobook and check to see if the line has moved.
It’s not moving. It’s worth mentioning that by now, I’m trapped in the drive-thru. I’ve crossed the point of no return.
As the clock keeps ticking, and I haven’t even ordered yet, I suddenly know it’s I’m going to be late. Late, with coffee. I don’t think many more things scream unprofessional. Ugh.
Two options:
1. Chug hot latte during a 20-minute commute and risk spilling it while burning my mouth.
2. Leave coffee in the car once I arrive at my appointment in 20 minutes.
Spoiler alert: This means I’ll end up leaving my coffee in the car when I get to my appointment which also means I’m wasting it.
We’re not good at making coffee at home. Ok, I’m not great. Actually, that’s also not true. I do an ok job of setting the coffee maker. I also do an ok job of taking coffee with me nowadays. What I am not good at is drinking coffee at home. How do you get a hot cup? I leave it around. I misplace it. I come back, find it and it is cold.
I only started drinking coffee after my daughter was born. My coworkers at the time joked that the mochas I was drinking were a gateway to coffee. They were right.
Now, I still prefer a good latte to a straight drip coffee but that’s just me trying to sneak in some protein. I’m also a sucker for a Starbucks drive-thru....even for drip coffee. I also find I still try to be early to see if I can sneak into the drive-thru and yes, sometimes I’m late.