Is Starbucks An Addictive Substance?

On Wednesday, my first day in Hong Kong, from the ferry tour of the harbor I saw this huge, waterfront Starbucks just adjacent to our hotel, and my first thought, after deciding to photograph it, was that I wanted to spend some time there writing. Is it possible to feel a kind of addiction, or at least a draw, towards certain places? I know it isn't the caffeine, which for many people it is, because I never drink coffee unless I'm in a cafe writing. Or traveling sometimes. Or with Mike. But that's because of him ;-).



Well, I got my writing time this afternoon. This photo is the view of the harbor and Hong Kong island behind it from inside. I really do understand why people find chains like Starbucks irritating, and do in some ways prefer independent cafes. But there's something comforting about being able to go most places in the country - and now even the world, apparently (come on Belize!*) - and have a place that's consistent in look, manner, quality to what I know at home. Especially when I've spent so much time in this kind of place, writing. It's the comfort of familiarity. And if I have an "addiction" or at least a preference in this, it comes from the atmosphere (not the caffeine). [I also have respect for the company itself, which I know treats its employees well, and has good policies about its farmers, communities, and environment, but I won't get into that.]

It's been raining all day - just pissing, really, most of the time - and my colleagues got a good soaking going up to a big Buddha statue at a monastery on Lantau Island (where we tried to get to yesterday). I got out briefly this morning, then to write in the afternoon. I was hoping the view from inside the cafe might be a little clearer, but ironically, the visibility had by this point cleared up considerably! When I was at lunch with Jewell, we couldn't see the mountain at all behind the city, just the first few layers of buildings. But it's a wonderful view, and one of the best Starbucks locations I've seen yet (yes, I've become a sort of connoisseur of Starbucks cafes and their locales). I told Jewell earlier that I was stuck at the next scene I had to write, because another professor over the spring had told me it didn't work, and I had no idea how else to write it. But I have always found inspiration on the water, and I also said that if I couldn't break through this block here, I would have to circumvent the problem because I never would. Well, I did. I have a lot of work ahead, but I do know now what needs to be done.

* Actually, I'm not sure I would want a Starbucks in Belize, for the record. I'm happy with my Ceylon tea!