Drive Thru Coffee Shops

When my mother and I were driving from Houston to Pullman last summer, she became just as involved in my caffeine habit as I am. Of course, with mom, she just wanted to make sure her little girl was happy while driving all those endless hours on the road and anyone who knows me knows that I'm much happier after I've had my morning java. Anyway, sometimes she would point out a Starbucks that happened to have a drive thru. We'd stop, and I'd get out of the car and go inside. After returning with my coffee and reiterating once again that due to years of practice I was more than capable of driving with one hand and holding my coffee in the other, she asked me why I didn't go through the drive thru and my response: coffee isn't something you should be able to get through the drive thru. Yes, in some ways I'm a coffee snob.

But, today, I must admit I went to the drive-thru coffee shop here in Pullman. Why? Because I had one too many Mike's Hard Lemonades last night and had no desire to get out of my pajamas and go inside the coffee shop. So, I left my pajamas on, got in the car and drove to the nearest drive thru coffee stand. Was the coffee just as good? Yes. Do I still believe that you shouldn't be able to get your daily dose of espresso through the drive-thru? Yes. Even more, when going through the drive-thrus here in Pullman, there's the extra bonus of getting 25 or 50 cents off your drink with a correct answer of the tuesday trivia question or like today, getting 50 cents off when you show your reusable shopping bag. I know, 25 or 50 cents doesn't sound like a lot, but it is when you have a daily coffee habit. Those little amounts can add up at the end of the month. So, even though I'm still under what I realize is a false idea that the best cafe mochas are served up across the bar and not through the drive thru window, I also have to give in and say there are gains to be gotten by going through the drive thru.

Alas, a girl has to make some sacrifices every now and then in the name of maintaining her caffeine habit. I'm sure this won't be the last time I go through the drive thru in my pajamas.