Starbucks: a great place for middle-class people to relax and work

        Last Sunday is a sunny day and the temperature is pretty well, so it is a great day for people to go out. Around 3 o’clock, I finished almost all my homework so I decided to go to Starbucks with my friend and order a cup of ice latte, which is my favorite drink, to relax and refresh myself. When I arrived at the Starbucks, it was full of people so that it is really hard for me and my friend to find a table. Luckily, a table in the corner is empty. We took the seat at that table and ordered two cups of ice latte. We talked together and laughed together and time just passed so quickly. When we left, there are still several people stayed in the Starbucks. I really enjoy the time I spent with my friend last Sunday because it is the time for me to stay away from the pressure and stress.

       This Starbucks is one of my favorite café because, first of all, it located on the business street, Evan’s Ave, which is only 15 minutes’ walk from my dorms. There are some iron tables and chairs outdoors with an umbrella as a decoration. Few people chose to sit outside to enjoy the fresh air and the beautiful scene. This Starbucks has two doors. One for enter and one for exit. Inside of the Starbucks, there are several tables for two people and a bar for single customers. Some sofa placed in the center of the café. All the tables and chairs inside are made of wood and the floor is made of bricks in order to be easy to clean. There is a shelf near the enter door with lots of coffee cups and several bags of coffee beans. The shelf is also made of wood. The lights in Starbucks are all small lights. Almost all of them are black, except four lights near the bar. They are red. Quite a few decorations are on the wall, just one Starbucks’s logo and some pictures. The music played in Starbucks is the light music. And the volume of the music is not very loud. So the general style of this Starbucks is more like the country style and made people feel relaxing.

       Moving further from the location and the style of this Starbucks, there is another reason why I love to go to this Starbucks rather than other cafés. Because almost all the staff are young man and woman, so they are very polite and always full of energy. They always smile to the customers and wait patiently for customers to order. With the infection of the staff’s attitude, the customers in Starbucks behaved politely as well. They talked quietly and drank softly. The staff in Starbucks all wore black T-shirts and green aprons. Most of the customers wore informal T-shirts and jeans while few customers wore formal suits. The coffee is made after the customers ordered and there is a table near the enter door that contained sugars, milk, and honey for the customers to change the coffee to their own favorite taste. All the cups in Starbucks are made of plastic or paper. And the straws in Starbucks are all green. The Starbucks’s coffee tasted really nice and the price is not too expensive. The menu in Starbucks is the cafeteria styles so that it is easy to find out the size and the price. However, not only the coffee in Starbucks is popular, the cakes are also well-known. The cakes were cut into pieces and displayed in the glass cabinet. The working time of the Starbucks is from 5am to 8pm during the weekdays while 6am to 8pm on weekend.

       Because the Starbucks opened such a long time and its setting is really enjoyable, lots of people, especially working class people, will choose to work or spend their free time on Starbucks. On Sunday, it is so crowded in Starbucks and almost all the people bring a computer or a book with them. Several people read the book quietly; some people surfed on the internet using the free Wi-Fi provided by Starbucks; the rest of the people worked on their computers. But no matter what the customers did, they all ordered a cup of coffee or a cup of tea. No one in Starbucks is in hurry. Everyone seemed relaxing and enjoyable. The most interesting thing I observed is that, there are only single customers or several groups with two people in Starbucks, no group is greater than two people.

       Obviously, the price of the coffee in Starbucks is suitable for the middle-class people, so most of the customers should be the middle-class people. Based on my observations in Starbucks last Sunday, I come up with some ideas about American food value and culture. The Starbucks is just like a living room for mid-class people because everyone in Starbucks seems happy, relaxing and enjoyable. The staff’s friendly attitude makes the coffee house more like a home. However, the way that American people relax themselves is totally different from the way that Chinese people relax themselves. American people would rather go alone or with one or two friend while Chinese people would rather go with several friends. The plastic and paper cups used in Starbucks show the importance of the recycle materials. Since the main color of the Starbucks’s logo and the straws, green, reflects another kind of American food value and culture. American people mainly concern about the green, organic, and healthy food. “Eating healthy is one of the most important things you can do to lower your risk for type 2 diabetes and heart disease” (American Diabetes Association, Eating Health, PARA 1). Perhaps this is a reason why American people mainly care about the healthiness of the food.