a good deed never goes unnoticed - even if the motive is less than pure

It was a cold, dark December evening. I was getting out of work and it was already pitch black. It was too late to go catch the Standard Time bus because it doesn't come very often, so I went to the Daylight Savings Time bus-stop and hunkered down in my coat with my mittened hands stuffed in my pockets and my scarf tightly wrapped around my nose and mouth to fend off the sub-20-degrees-Farenheit chill.

The DST bus-stop is, as mentioned previously, in front of a Starbucks. To my utter surprise, as I was shivering on the sidewalk, the front door of S'bucks opened, and a barista appeared with a huge tray full of espresso cups topped with whipped cream and red peppermint sprinkles. "Would you like some hot chocolate?" he asked to myself and the others huddled around me.

!!!!!!

Our obvious answer was

"YES!!!"

, and I grabbed a cup of the rich, warm drink. As I sipped it, I pondered what motivated Starbucks to extend such a kind gesture to the people who crowd around their door and likely scare away customers. Was it pity for we cold ones in the below-freezing weather, tired from a long day at work? Was it the holiday spirit, being only a few days before Christmas?

But then it dawned on me... It was what was happening across the street. You see, a few days previous, Caribou Coffee opened its doors directly across the street from Starbucks. Many people were going into those doors... I suspect that a large motivation for the fine hot-chocolate-deliverer of Starbucks was to entice the recipients of his free drinks to enter into his establishment and partake of his coffee more frequently than Caribou's.

I must say...despite the perhaps tainted reasoning behind the hot chocolate gift, I certainly am encouraged to visit Starbucks. It was a good deed. And I did appreciated it very much on that bitter evening.

I never thought I'd say this, but...support your local Starbucks - even if they are contributing significantly to the caffeine crisis!