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Life after Starbucks

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Freaked out caffeine fiends (several CLEO-ettes included) dealt with Wednesday's news of the closure of 61 Australian Starbucks stores by quickly ordering a decaf triple macchiato to calm their nerves.

Even the non-latte lovers espresso-ed their concern that this might be the end of social lubrication as we know it -  and they could be right. Because, as we reflected this week, nothing helps you "work, (un)rest and play" quite like a steaming gulp of grand soy chai.
 
Case in point: consider that although the 1990s may have had the "power lunch", many noughties pow-wows were actually sealed over a double-blend mocha. Why? Because a caramel cappuccino is less stuffy than an entree of goat's cheese vol-au-vent and it still leaves movers-and-shakers with the kind of common sense that tends to disappear when deals are done over alcoholic drinks.

Then, there was coffee's contribution to solving the first date dinner dilemma (ie, evenings spent sharing an undercooked, overpriced steak with a person you've quickly realised you have little in common with). Now, "going for a coffee" leaves you with two equally appealing outcomes:
1. You meet, size-up the person sitting opposite you, decide you don't like their choice of footwear, consume ordered beverage with a speed that rapidly scalds your tongue and make a rapid, feeble excuse to leave.
2. You meet, are instantly smitten by the smile/cute butt/general aura of coolness of your acquaintance, sip your beverage and exploit every possible opportunity to extend your stay in the informal yet aesthetically-pleasing setting as you mentally debate the name of your future children together.

And finally, we lamented the possible death of the "Celebrity does Starbucks" phenomenon.
We mourned future Monday mornings reading trashy magazines that were missing ‘candid’ shots of our beloved B-Listers, because there were no more pics of an undersized Mary Kate Olsen carrying an oversized venti non-fat frap.

But then we paused, took a sip and saw the sugar-free lite at the end of the mug. Maybe, just maybe, we thought, a new trend would hit the Hollywood Hills -  eating. What'll they think of next, huh?

Yep, we sulked and sobbed for a while, but then we pulled ourselves together and split a family-sized pack of Crunchy Chocettes for our 3pm caffeine fix. Because, as we quickly learnt, there's no use crying over spilt coffee now, is there?