Starbucks Gold Card Golden Expectations

I am the proud owner of a Starbucks gold card. I still remember the day I received the announcement in the mail… I mean, in my inbox. I was like—Wow, really? You’re sending me, little old me, one of those shiny gold cards?

My husband already had a gold card. He loved to whip out in front of me, flapping it back and forth beneath my nose, the whiff of superiority making my nostrils tingle with jealousy.

For two weeks I waited. And waited. And anxiously waited some more. Maybe they forgot about me? I thought. So, I called them. I mean, I sent them a message through their website. “Hi there, just wondering… You recently upgraded me to gold card status and, well… it’s been a while and I haven’t received anything. Could it, possibly, have gotten lost in the mail?”

I worried that Starbucks had changed their policy and that while, yes, I had achieved gold card status; I would be stuck using the same old green card.

YUK!

I mean, they could just as easily have put something in the system, which from that point forward would recognize the bar code on my old card and upgrade me automatically.

But I didn’t want that. I wanted a shiny gold card!!!!!

Finally, Starbucks was nice enough to reply to my message (I mean, to my whiny demand for acknowledgement).

“Your gold card is on its way. These things take time.”

(Be patient. Get a life.)

And then–the day arrived. I went to my mailbox…the mailbox in front of my house, not my inbox—and there it was, an envelope addressed to me, from Starbucks. I tossed all the other unimportant mail aside—the bills and requests for donations from extremely worthy organizations—and tore open the envelope.

At last! There it was, a shiny new gold Starbucks card with my name emblazoned on the front of it. Sooooo pretty.

My Precious…

I slid the card into my wallet and imagined walking into Starbucks, whipping it out, and watching all the baristas snapped to attention.

“Mrs. Metz, what can we do for you? Would you like to wait in the special Gold Card member room and have some wine and cheese while we roast the beans for your latte?”

“Please, take advantage of our special Gold Card member’s only bathroom. The toilet seats are heated and the toilet paper soft with the subtlest scent of Columbian coffee. We also have French roast toilet paper if prefer.”

Where did I get these expectations? From my husband. He travels constantly for work. As a frequent flyer and hotel guest, he receives “special attention.” Ah yes, traveling with my husband is like traveling with a rock star. At airports it’s, Mr. Metz, please come to the front of the line. Mr. Metz, your plane is a late, please forgive us as you wait in this special room filled comfortable chairs, clean bathrooms, free coffee, freshly squeezed juice and treats. Or at hotels it’s, Oh, Mr. Metz! So nice to see you! We’ve upgraded you to a suite—for free.

As you can see, it’s only understandable that after all these years I would want some of my own recognition. In fact, you would think, as much time as I spend in front of my Apple computer, my Apple iPhone and my Apple iPad, that I would have a gold Apple something by now!

Anyway, to make this already long post short, I was thoroughly disappointed when I used my gold Starbucks card for the first time. There was no, Mrs. Metz!

No, snap to attention.

No special anything!

As the barista handed my card back, along with my venti soy latte with an extra shot, extra hot, and drizzled with caramel, I quietly inquired if he had remembered to give me the gold card discount on the extra shot. Sure, came the reply, it came off automatically when we ran your card through.

I guess that’s something.

Do you want to see my gold card? It’s really pretty! It’s really precious…