The Famous Gold Card

Thursday morning began like any other day with a trip to Starbucks. The store of choice on this fine day was situated on Tottenham Court Road. The inside of the shop was rather generic and could have been any Starbucks in the U.S. There was however, something very different about my experience at the Tottenham shop. Being a Starbucks rewards member, I have a Starbucks Gold Card to use for purchasing my drinks. I have been using this card in London since the day I arrived and it was never a big deal. In the last week, a few baristas have made comments about it being a U.S. card. I didn't realize that London had different rewards cards and never thought much about the baristas inquiries about it being a foreign card. The questioning about my Gold Card at this particular store was far greater than any before. The cashier was so fascinated by my card and could not stop looking at it. After he looked at it a while and said how cool the U.S. card was he finally returned it to me. Just as I was putting my card in my wallet, the barista asked to see it again. He called his co-worker over and decided to share with him what he thought to be the coolest things. I became quite embarrassed because the workers and other customers were all looking at me like. I am glad that the baristas were so impressed by my card, but I got the feeling from everyone around me that people were thinking, oh geeze who does this American think she is? I couldn't wait for my drink to be ready and leave the store. My drink was quite delicious but I left feeling utterly embarrassed. I must admit, I think it is an absolutely wonderful service that Starbucks allows its cards to be used around the world, but maybe it would be a good idea to make the cards uniform. In the previous inquiries about the card, most of the baristas had to ask what kind of card I was using. It would save a bit of time not having to explain that the gold card is from Starbucks and also the embarrassment of when the barista is super fascinated by it. My card has proven to be very useful throughout my journey, but it has also caused a few bumps.

Be back later.

AM