Write Around Tampa

Starbucks

16330 FL-54

Odessa

Oh dear, oh dear, but this was an eh kind of experience. Here we go:

Quality and pricing of food and drink:
Usual Starbucks prices, but I have gift cards. I had one with .06 left on it. Yes, you see that. Six cents. Only Starbucks would hand you back a gift card worth .06. Anyway, I had more. Got the Egg, Mozzarella and pesto sandwich. Only they gave me the tomato, spinach and mozzarella. So the barista said he would make me another one. The right one. Told me to keep the mozz and spinach. He immediately hands me the right one as I’m on the way to my seat. When I open it it feels cold. I bite it. It is cold. I take it back and ask if they can warm it up. I’m told they’ll have to make me a new one because I bit it. I could’ve gotten two free sandwiches out of this place, but I said never mind, I don’t want him to do that, I’ll eat it cold. It was gross cold. So I’m taking two sandwiches home and leaving this Starbucks for another when I’m finished writing this.

Are there enough outlets?
Yes, there’s one right behind me, one at the table across the way, and several more sprinkled around.

How’s the wifi?
After giving away your full name, email, and zip code and agreeing to receive emails from them (from which I will unsubscribe right after I get the first one) you’re ready to surf.

Will my muse come out?
No. She’ll be pissed and hungry.

How long can I park it?
Open to close, which is 5am-8:00pm seven days a week. But will you want to when there’s about ten other Starbucks within a ten mile radius? Go to one of those. No wonder I could so easily find a seat.

Final rating: 2 out of 5 laptops

Rachel Remick’s fiction and non-fiction stories have appeared in various magazines, among them Rosebud, Bluestem, Brushfire, Minerva Rising, and ellipsis . . . literature and art. A frequent contributor to women’s magazine Sasee, her writing has also been published in several volumes of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series of books. She lives in Tampa, Florida.