Wednesday, March 12, 2008

The Case of the Stolen Starbucks Latte

Story of the day: I saved a man's life.

At around 2:45 pm this afternoon, I was in dire need of a latte. I hadn't left the office yet, even for a two minute fresh air break. So off I went, walking the six or so blocks to the nearest Starbucks. I left a note at my desk in case anyone needed my whereabouts. I figured I'd be back within 20 minutes. So far so good, right? No glitch in this plan. I got the latte, took the first sip (which is ALWAYS the best sip), and proceeded to walk back toward the office. I was only one block from Starbucks at this point, standing at the corner about to cross to the next block when...

I witnessed an elderly man cross the street in his motorized wheelchair. Suddenly, the wheelchair got stuck in a ditch in the unpaved road and the man went flying forward out of the chair. Oh my gosh! I couldn't believe what I had just witnessed! I put my wonderful, waited-all-day-for-this latte on the curb, and SPRINTED to the man who was now on his side, immobile, in the middle of the street. With oncoming traffic. I positioned myself in front of him, waved my arms in the air, and stopped traffic from running him over. The cars halted, and a couple of the drivers got out to see if the man was okay. He was bruised and very shaken up. We did not want to move him without professional help so we called 911.

While waiting for the paramedics, a peculiar lady walked up to the scene of the accident, turned to the man, and asked him if he was all right. Then she tried to take his pulse. I was not impressed. At this point, I had retrieved my latte from the curb and was standing next to the man, a small crowd surrounding us, and this odd woman beside me. She called out to see if anyone had any water for him, but when no one did, she grabbed my latte out of my hand and served it to the injured man. Really stupid of her, since 1. It was scalding hot, and 2. It's a latte, which means caffeine, which is not good for a man who is already panicking and has an increased heart rate. I grabbed the latte back, though I was not about to drink it. Oh well. Perfectly good latte gone to waste.

Police arrived and wanted to interview me for their report. Then the paramedics came. I was able to leave, and I started to head back to the office. It was 3:15 and I had a meeting at 3:30. But then I turned around and headed back to Starbucks. I'll be damned if for my one break of the day, I choose to get a latte, and it's taken from me by a crazy lady. When I got to Starbucks, the barista says, "Weren't you just in here? What happened to your latte? Did you spill it?" As she was asking me these questions, I was on the phone, telling my mom the details of this interesting story that resulted in a "stolen" latte, and the barista, listening in (read: eavesdropping), goes, "No way! That all just happened? I'll make you a new latte. It's on the house."

So there were multiple happy endings to this story. I got my latte after all, still made it back in time for my meeting, and I saved a man's life. Plus, Starbucks was so nice to replace my drink free of charge. I love them, even if they are heading toward world domination.

4 comments:

Jays said...

What a story! The part where you stopped traffic was the best. What was up with the weirdo lady who swiped your latte to give the guy? Freak!

Anonymous said...

That is some story, my goodness! You're a heroine. :) I'm glad that barista gave you another latte on the house too, that was really nice of her.


Ari (Baking and Books)

City Elf said...

wow, you are superwoman! glad you got a free latte for your good deed. you rock. xoxo

Marni said...

Thanks guys! Aren't happy endings the best?

Now, dreaming of another latte...

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