| | @starbucks near home.
this place has been my sanctuary for the last few months while being at home. well it's more like my office since i come here to use the internet and more importantly the desk. i don't know why i didn't buy a desk at home. i could really save money and do all my job searching at home sitting in my room. but alas it keeps me sane to get out of the house even tho this starbucks is about a mile away from home.
come to think of it i have a funny relationship with starbucks around the world.
@lebanon we didn't have internet at our apartment mainly cuz it was so freakin' expensive. so i used to go down to starbucks in the hamra area (a college + shopping area similar to westwood i guess) and purchase the internet provided by starbucks. it was bit more expensive than other free internet cafes but when "free" is synonymous to "death-defying slow", it's worth lebanese pounds. trust me. i swear it's a good material for a high-speed internet commercial.
internet was important for us expats in a faraway land not only for our daily facebook consumption but more importantly the "free" skype phone calls to loved ones and not so loved ones. i remember this one conversation with the latter grouping. it was around 10pm and starbucks was pretty full. i was on a 1-800 phone call with a lady from my bank back in philadelphia because i found that my atm card stopped working. it was already awkward to sit at starbucks with one of those big operator headphone on my head when she asked me to spell out some personal information for the sake of identity check. i spoke thru the wee microphone my account number, that three digit code on the back of atm cards and even my SSN. after a second of delay (quite normal) she asks me to repeat it, a bit louder this time. so i repeat myself and give her the string of numbers that proves to her that i am, indeed, me. these banks should invest in a voice-recognition software or something, i thought. then she apologizes and asks me to repeat my SSN one more time. i look up and my roommate who was sitting across the table from me is trying not to laugh because by this time i'm speaking up loud enough for all to hear. there must have been at least 10 people near by who could have heard me spell out the precious string of numbers that makes me who i am, according to the world of credits and banks. i tell you, the fact that my identity hasn't been stolen is a proof that God is good. knock on wood.
thank God starbucks didn't go cheap with plastic tables. starbucks should upgrade me Herman Miller style ergonomic desk chair for all the money (dollars, lebanese pounds, jordanian dinars, wons, british pounds) i've spent there. sigh.
(is it sacrilege to say "God is good" and then knock on wood? haha.)
|
| | Posted 2/16/2009 3:08 PM - 43 Views - 4 eProps - 2 comments
- recommend
  - recs0
- share
- email
 - sent0
|
