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| - I frequent this Starbucks on my way to work, it's convenient, and my order is super simple. Literally two words. That's one word less than "cup of coffee". I'll show up before 6am so I definitely understand how that schedule can grow... tiresome. But this stop happens to be my very first human interaction of the day and when I'm greeted with "Hi, what can I get for you..." and "That'll be $2.45 at the first window," with a blatant avoidance of such simple pleasantries as: "how are you", "please", "thank you", and "your welcome", I can't help but wonder if a simple cup of coffee is more than just a warm, caffeinated shot to the chest. The possibility that the lifeless hand of a corpse handing me an espresso would offer more warmth than this emotionless community college student working the 4am shift at the Peoria Starbucks does cross my mind. I wonder if she thinks about me somewhere in between the line breaks on page 122 of Walther von der Vogelweide's "Under the Linden" during her 7am lunch break. Is that rogue spark of consideration an echo of shame, triggering the tiniest notion of empathy? Nay, the resistance of apathy has created a closed circuit. She simply closes her book, opens her Instagram feed, and double taps an image of her co-worker, Beth.
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