Random 5 for September 4, 2022 – Starbucks, gorilla man, ads, reunions, behavior

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Back to the old routine! – My local Starbucks is open after two weeks of renovations. It had been completely renovated about five years ago, so I was surprised when they closed again. It was worth it. They took down the floor to ceiling displays that cut up the room and it looks so much bigger. They replaced all the brown tile and wall color with lighter neutrals. Made a huge difference. There are railings to guide people and a larger pick-up area. It’s good to be back. While it was closed, I was going to another store that is close-by. The traffic pattern was busier and the store itself was larger and more impersonal. I missed the camaraderie of my old store.

Speaking of SB, reappearance of gorilla man – During the pandemic there was a guy I would see in the morning in a super duper $$$ sportscar with a gorilla mask. I saw him occasionally when our times matched but I hadn’t seen him all summer. Lots of reasons for that. Some simple like our timing didn’t match to moving out of a reasonable driving distance. Today I saw him. Actually, I only saw his car. He must have been at the other end of the store when I went in. By the time I was done socializing with the baristas, he was gone. Guess he’s still around. There are a few regulars you get to recognize.

Cruising the ads – I was checking out sales for any possible great buys on summer wear. (Nope, didn’t find any!) The clothing ads had models in all sizes from razor thin to super-sized. That’s allows non-model sized people to see what it would look like on them. It had the opposite effect on me. I am on the thin side. When the ad was only larger size models, I skimmed over. Perhaps we should enter our size and have the clothing display in our exact size. Some styles are more attractive on specific body shapes. I learned that lesson the hard way.

Another one in the books – Our reunion was yesterday. It went well. The weather cooperated and everyone was in a good mood. We took updated pictures and there was a lot of food. One person was absent because of covid but in today’s world, that’s to be expected.

The odd thing about people – I’ve noticed this over the years and it happens at almost all get-togethers. It takes a while for people to “warm up.” I’m not sure what that’s about but people are quieter the first hour. As it’s almost time to leave, everyone gets chatty. I do that too. Maybe it’s just getting into the swing. Or maybe it’s more likely to happen with folks you don’t see often. A mystery of life.

So how was your week?

55 thoughts on “Random 5 for September 4, 2022 – Starbucks, gorilla man, ads, reunions, behavior”

  1. Glad you had a good time at the reunion after everyone got past being on their best behavior and let loose. 🙂 I have not been in Starbucks in years. We had one in the office building before my boss/I moved … we ended up brewing Starbucks or Caribou at work when we went on our own. I liked Caribou and we ground our own beans so the office smelled good before/after brewing.

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  2. Glad your “real” Starbucks is open again and also that your old friend Gorilla Man is still around 🙂 I was at Starbucks myself this past week – PSL is back, which means so am I! So glad your reunion went well. I’m kind of the opposite. I’m not that social, so I psych myself up to be outgoing. So I hit the event at peak socialness, and then it wears off. After a while I get kind of done with peopleing, and then it’s time for me to leave.

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  3. Good to know Gorilla Man is still alive and kicking. 😉 I have a very good friend I’ve known for decades now, and no matter how often we see one another, she’s always timid and shy for the first hour. After that you can’t shut her up! – Marty

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  5. I like your idea to put in you size and see it displayed on a model. How do I put in my size “slightly more in the the hips?” 🧍‍♀️
    Glad you enjoyed the reunion. Maybe everyone needs to get a “feel for the room” first. 😉

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  6. Maybe people warm up after a few adult beverages! That’s been my experience. I haven’t been inside a Star$ in years, literally. Once ours moved to a location with a drive-thru window, well– you know the rest of the story.

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  7. I do not like shopping for clothing! I hate spending money on clothing because I wear it hard and it won’t last that long if I like it enough to wear it often. I scan the big-box store (aka Walmart) if I’m there to fill up on paper supplies. I look through the racks at my favorite thrift store where everything is sectioned by size (part of why it’s my favorite!). I make myself get rid of one thing in my closet for each new thing I put in there, and I still always lean to picking out the same comfortable favorites time after time. Good luck finding some good sales on “summer” stuff that hasn’t sold since they put it out in February!

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    • I don’t need clothes so it’s not a big loss if I don’t end up with any. Our local Walmart is not a place I like to shop. Not because it’s a cheap place but because it’s so big that I feel I need to catch a bus to get from one end to the other!

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  9. Glad you have your fave Starbucks back with improvements as a bonus! We never had family reunions when I was growing up as we had so little family. I have other friends who report their family reunions have gotten smaller and shorter. I am happy to hear your reunion was fun! I seem to have fairly good luck with “catalog shopping” for clothes….which is good considering the fact we live in a tiny town with only TWO choices for clothes shopping, one of which is WALMART!

    Hugs, Pam

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  10. The Starbucks remodel sounds great. And with your recent experience with your own house, you’re a good one to judge.

    Shopping for clothes has become more difficult. I stayed away from the stores for a couple of years, as did quite a few people. So now the stores don’t seem to have as much stock, or I’ve become spoiled with all the choices available online. But, as you said, you never really know how something will look on you until you try it on.

    I’m glad you had a good reunion. I always enjoy family reunions, but for us, they’re hard to organize something with cousins and aunts and uncles. We’re all spread out.

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  12. I’ve also been aware of the “warm up” period in social gatherings. I don’t know if it’s always been that way and I just didn’t notice, or if it’s been sharper since we spent more than a year not gathering with others. I still feel a little awkward when I’m in groups. I’m so happy that you had a family reunion. These gatherings are so important.

    Now about gorilla man…you just must get a picture sometime. LOL!

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  14. Glad the reunion went well. I think it takes an hour for the alcohol to kick in at social events to make people less shy. Although, I don’t drink so I stay quiet the whole time.

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  16. I don’t think my family ever had a reunion. Now I probably wouldn’t know most of the family. I live in a different state from where I grew up and have no family here. A couple of my nephews visited once or twice a long time ago. They have children I have never met or even seen pictures of them. Part of it is me because I don’t travel.

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  17. Regarding your comments on models of differing sizes… I hate to leave comments that might come across as hurtful, so please understand that I am not trying to hurt or shame you. I found your comments to be close to body shaming. How could you possibly imagine something on your body by the pictures of it on someone larger? Do you understand that until very recently even plus sized clothing was only displayed on thin models? Even now, many companies consider a size 14, which is apparently average size these days, as “plus sized.” Most plus size models, at least in the mainstream, are around size 14. There are a few companies who have models my size, but I am so trained to view anyone outside of what is “normal” as unattractive that I know even if I look like their model, I won’t actually look good in anything.

    I get that finding clothing on the very thin end of the scale is just as hard. I’ve had friends who were tiny and ended up shopping in the pre-teen section – which is not what you want to wear to a professional setting. Honestly, all the pinning and careful draping they do with the clothes so that they look as good as possible on whatever size of model means nothing we buy based on photos is going to look like that on us. I think there are some companies doing something like your idea of showing clothing how it would look on your size. I think you have to upload a photo of yourself to get it to work. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t do that.

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    • I wouldn’t do that either but It’s nice to see clothes modeled in range of different sizes rather than just small or just large. None of that beats trying something on but it can help. My mom wore a half size. I don’t even know if they make those anymore. It’s a petite in a larger size. She had a lot of trouble finding clothes especially for special events that didn’t look matronly. She almost always had to do some tailoring. I always wanted to wear a standard size rather than a small but I would have had to be taller too. If I body shamed, it wasn’t my intent. Overall I find buying clothes from a catalog or on-line challenging but it’s the way we are going now.

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      • I didn’t think that was your intent, but it’s such a hot button for so many of us that I felt like I needed to say something. And I hope I did not offend you.

        I agree that shopping online or in catalogs is so much more difficult than the old days of shopping at stores. I like that some companies are making it easier to try on things at home and send back what we don’t like without penalties. Unfortunately, my favorite company charges a return fee and then a restocking fee so that you may as well keep the item. I have a hideous orange shirt for that reason. It was red in the picture. I use it on cleaning days.

        I am petite, too! A physical therapist pointed out to me some years ago that I have short legs. I never noticed before but then they started making average height inseams 31 inches which is a good 5 inches taller than my inseam. I have a long torso so average length tees barely reach my waist.

        We’re all different. And wouldn’t it be boring, they say, if we were all the same.

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        • I am short but have a 30 inch inseam, the same as my husband who is many inches taller! I’m short waisted. Wish I could send you some of my extra tee shirt! 🙂 It may be boring but would make life easier at least as far as shopping goes.

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  19. Seems that Gorilla Man was happy “your” SB was back in business too! I got my French Dip and Swiss, the store looked clean fresh. I know how you feel about your Starbucks! Very nice to hear that all went well for the reunion. I just hate when they end if I am having a good time. It does take a little time to get in the swing of things. We also get started with a glass of wine!

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  20. Adults, toddlers – both seem to need time to warm up at social gatherings 😁. My son would cling to my leg for the first 1/2 hour at some place new and by the time I was ready to leave he’d be upset to be taken away. Same deal with adults but at least they don’t throw tantrums when it’s time to go…uh, I hope. 😉

    Could you recognize Gorilla mask man without his mask? I doubt I would be able to (unless he was standing by his $$$ car 😄).

    Deb

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  21. Glad the reunion went well.

    I do think that people take some time to “warm up” and “get into the swing of things” when it’s a group they haven’t mingled with for a while ~ maybe it gives them a chance to gauge expectations, etc. If you had reunions or meet ups every week, people would probably jump in with both feet at the outset.

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