The Cute Guy at Starbucks

Ah. The cute guy at Starbucks. Everybody has one; that one person at your local ‘whatever’ that makes your knees a little weak, and you don’t really know why. For Joey and Chandler from Friends, it was the copy girl. For Michael from The Office, it was the chair model from the business furniture magazine. For Manny from Modern Family, it was the girl in his class who had the pretty cursive handwriting. You get the picture. We all have one person. The person that we would never date in real life, mainly because our awkward ‘ums and uhs’ would get in the way of us saying yes. Nevertheless, we treasure those few seconds of him saying, “Good morning, what can I get you this morning?”

This guy was a barista at Starbucks. I couldn’t go to my usual Starbucks (the one of Dallas Highway, what’s up?!) because I had to meet a coworker to pick up a few things. As soon as I arrived, I sauntered up to the counter and started glazing over the menu for the drink with the most get up and go. And then I saw him. He was tall and lean, with thick, curly black hair down to his shoulders. He had long arms and broad, protect-you-if-he-had-to shoulders. He was wearing a leather-strap bracelet and a sparkling-white smile.  

But his physical appearance wasn’t what caught my attention. Ok, not the only thing that caught my attention. It was his complete demeanor. Not only was he attractive, but he was kind and unassuming. When you walked up to the counter, he made it seem that it was his life’s joy to brew you your morning cup ‘o Joe. While I was internally grumbling that I had to sit on a computer all day, he was choosing to smile even though he had been up since 5 am.

I ordered my drink, and sat down to get some work done. The longer I tapped away on my laptop, the more impressed with this guy I became. He greeted every person who walked in with a “Good morning sir or mam,” or my personal favorite, “Good morning Mr. Lewis,” just to make that one customer feel even more welcome. (As if cute guy’s million-dollar smile didn’t already say that)

At one point I had to run out to my car and grab something. He just happened to be leaving his shift for the morning, and he held the door open as I walked back in and said, “See you later girl!” That’s it. Nothing special or well thought out, just a personal touch as he ran out the door.

The funny thing is, I don’t even think this guy had one clue the affect he made on me that day. The smallest things he did made my not-so-great-day greater that morning and I am thankful for it.

Bottom line is, people notice things. Even if you don’t have silky, curly hair or a permanent tan, you do have a voice, or a smile. Those things can really change someone’s life. It made this grumpy-pants girl turn her day around and jump out of her morning sulk. (The Cafe Americano helped a little too) Your actions make a difference, no matter how small. 

Cheap Thrills

Last week I forgot that I hated fairs. It took a two-mile walk from our car to remember that I did, indeed, hate fairs. It wasn’t until I bought a ticket, crossed through the ticket booth, and gazed at all of the plastic regality that I remembered I hate fairs. I looked at my good friend Debra and said,

“I think I hate fairs.”

She looked back at me with scrunched brows and said, “You invited me; this was your idea!”

“I know.” I said trying to rack my brain for the reason I wanted to come to this blessed event. “Oh crap. I love festivals; not fairs!”

But it was too late. We had already purchased our tickets, and committed to the candy apple purchase. We were in.

As we meandered around, I looked down at my outfit and realized that my skinny jeans and trendy knit cap were extremely out of place. Let me just list for you the make-you-put-your-head-down-in-shame outfits I witness that night: there were jean jackets worn with jeans, camo tank tops, jeggings tucked into Saconys, and the famous pants so tight that they make your muffin top even more overflowing with batter.

For those of you who know me well, you will not be surprised when I say I…was…mortified.

As if that wasn’t enough, we thought that walking through the petting zoo would help subside the sheer shock of what we were witnessing. But that did not help; it just made it worse, because there were chickens in cages. Chickens. In. Cages. Not unique, authentic, or foreign chickens, but normal chickens from a farm. And people were walking around taking pictures with their IPhones.

So we emerged from the petting zoo and looked around at the big attractions. These included paying $5 to see a live rat, (…-.-…) spending $7 for a hotdog, or watching someone put a slew of people to sleep on stage. Again I say, …-.-…

Amidst the flashing lights from the Ferris wheel and the mist of powdered sugar hanging in the air, I realized something. We pay a lot of money for cheap thrills. We are constantly looking for the alluring bright lights and cheesy attractions to full the gnawing void in our hearts. We hope that a few short hours of fake entertainment will suffice for the sweet fulfillment that Christ gives. Not that any of these things are wrong, (I mean don’t judge me if keep my kids away from the caged chickens) but when we hope to replace them with the eternal hope Christ brings, we are setting ourselves up for a big batch of emptiness.

This blog is an encouragement to do the things you love, but to do them as an overflowing of Christ’s love for you. He will fill you up. He will give you more grace, more love, and more abundance so you don’t have to rely on a $5 candy apple and a giant rat.