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How Starbucks Saved My Life by Michael Gates Gill isn’t a new release, by any means, and was probably written somewhere before the recession. I only knew vaguely about it, and what I did know saved me from reading this too early. It’s a story that explains that sometimes bad things can happen to good people. Like when the recession hit the American economy last November. It reminded me of so much of what I’m going through right now, and with how many recent lifestyle changes I am making over this past year. I couldn’t have read it at a more perfect time.
I plucked out a seat by the window in Border’s just as the sky turned a pinkish cotton candy swirl and the sun began to fade between the clouds. I set my clear plastic cup (from Starbucks. Sorry, Border’s cafe!) down and already found myself lost in the first few pages. Basically, a middle aged New Yorker seems to have it all: He is a Yale graduate, he has a white collar job, and a nice house in suburbia. Life is groovy, before he ends up with a diagnosis of a brain tumor and the fact that he gets laid off from his previous job. Despite the circumstances, he also has no health insurance now. Desperate to seek help for his brain tumor, he applies for a job at his favorite coffee shop, Starbucks, which offers health benefits, in an African American neighborhood of the city. He then proceeds to narrate his work experience from the other side of the fence (or counter top) with his thoughts on education and race from the life of a working class Joe.
The more I read, the more I became captivated into a wonderful story about an adorable character that you want to root for. I’m also aware of a few people that still wouldn’t root for a character like this. They’ll often say that they don’t know the meaning of the word “struggle” because they haven’t not started with anything themselves. But, this book isn’t so much of a happy one. As much as we wish for life to be smooth, it doesn’t stay that way. This book proves that there are a medley of setbacks and challenges that test our strength and see how far we will go for life, liberty, and the pursuit of…well, that depends on what we want to fight for.
Available at Border’s at KoP, or wherever books are sold.
Expect more book reviews every Monday!
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