There are two Starbucks coffee shops near my home. The more distant...and the oldest...is at Magnolia Parke off NW 39th Avenue near Buchholz High School, while the other is on NW 43rd Street near the WCJB Channel 20 studios, across the street just down the road from Talbot Elementary. I used to prefer the latter because of its proximity, and before the COVID pandemic closed its indoor seating I enjoyed a large room to sit in. This facility used to be at the north end of the adjacent Publix shopping center with a rather cramped indoor seating area, but they built a larger store to install a drive-through...which to me as an exclusively on-site customer has pretty much destroyed my use of it. For one, the cars in the drive-through tend to back up...even into the street like they do at the Starbucks on NW 13th Street just north of 16th Avenue...to the point where I can't even use that way to enter or leave the parking lot. But even when I phone in my mobile order and go inside, they are so backed up with the drive-through orders that they often don't have mine (or other customers') ready...or if they do nobody wants to acknowledge my existence and hand it to me: I'm not criticizing the hard-working employees there...their system could stand a little tweaking, that's all. Today I'm sitting outside at Magnolia Parke Starbucks...from the above picture you can see how nicely they've provided spaced, outdoor seating. And when I order a drink by phone, it's ready for me: no drive-through! But although sitting here is pleasant, I long for the day when once again I'll be able to sit indoors and enjoy a brew with my handy-dandy word processor in front of me...
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