The Starbuckians

     We had just moved from the San Francisco Bay Area to a small town in the Sierra Nevada foothills.

     While the kids were in school, I often wrote at Starbucks just to be around other adults. At the time, this was it, the only Starbucks around, the hot spot for the town’s singles and teens and seniors and most everybody else.   

     Jokingly, I called this Starbucks “‘Bucks” because, although Starbucks strives for the utmost consistency in its customer experience, this particular store felt quite different. It was filled with plaid and snow boots of skiers en route to the ski resorts up the mountain, kayakers, local lawyers, and a group of men I called The Starbuckians.

     The Starbuckians were the welcoming committee to all new female “regulars.” They were men between thirty and one hundred ten years old who welcomed any woman willing to put up with their stories about how fabulous and fascinating they were. I liked the Starbuckians for their reliability. Generally, they were in the same seats at the same times everyday.

Excerpt from "A Woman's Mind Half Naked," Copyright 2009, by Jennifer Ann Gordon