PDX Enroute Stop - Coffee People Choice

Second Third Place

Starbucks is my favorite Third Place of choice - if I am to use one - but the Coffee People at the entrance to Concourse E at PDX is the most available watering hole when flying on United Airlines (my preferred carrier for frequent flying miles membership). My regular choice: Cafe Mocha Decaf with whipped cream (that sounds like a line out of You've Got Mail (1) - staged in New York City, but where Starbucks has penetrated the metropolitan giant with small pieces of the Pacific Northwest coffee culture that  sustains residents there through the ten continuous months of cloudy weather and rain).

Customized cafe mocha decaf

For health regulations, the concoction has to be handed over to the customer in a paper cup with the generic, non-biodegradable cap in place, upon which receiving I put on the generic brown paper sleeve to serve as a heat insulator, step over to the service bar where the nutmeg, cinnamon, and chocolate shakers are available for customers like me to custom adulterate the hot drink by sprinkling the spices on top of the crushed whipped cream, to then carefully reattach the non-biodegradable cap, and then gather up my carry-on bags and waddle my way to my gate carrying everything and thinking about that first sip of my coffee drink.
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(1) Line from You've Got Mail when Joe Fox says: "The whole purpose of places like Starbucks is for people with no decision-making ability whatsoever to make six decisions just to buy one cup of coffee. Short, tall, light, dark, caf, decaf, low-fat, non-fat, etc. So people who don’t know what the hell they’re doing or who on earth they are can, for only $2.95, get not just a cup of coffee but an absolutely defining sense of self: Tall. Decaf. Cappuccino." A book is specifically written about Starbucks culture in America that draws commentary by newspaper columnists, not unlike what the Frank Navsky character would write in the movie.

Airline Food - Fruit and Cheese Tray

On my return flight Thursday night, I chose the Fruit and Cheese Tray option from the menu. Earlier at the airport, I got a Starbucks Cafe Mocha Decaf and a banana-walnut muffin - so it was just as well I didn't get upgraded to First Class (1) and get a full meal. I was pleased to see the packet of sliced apples among the goodies in the tray - they are an "invention" of the agency I work for. The flight attendant noticed me looking at the packet, and commented about how she and friends had noticed the apple slices don't brown. I said that the are given a treatment of a low concentration of Vitamin C. She said putting lemon juice on slices does the same, and I replied that both are weak acids - the wonder of chemistry. This kind of technology is having an impact on many kinds of fresh produce offerings being served in fast food restaurants and school cafeterias.
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(1) There are only eight First Class seats in the Airbus A319 jet aircraft. I was at the top of the upgrade standby list, but no luck flying home. I was in seat 11D, on the aisle in an emergency exit row, so still lots of leg room.

Five Senses

When driving across eastern Washington and central Oregon earlier this week, Starbucks was a convenient stop for a break. With the Chinese Lunar New Year upon us - the year of the Rabbit - the coffee company has among its music compact discs for sale, a compilation of Chinese music - old and new, techno, rap, pop, R&B, art deco.... Track 11 is titled Miss Shanghai by a group called The Shanghai Restoration Project - it is the best song on the disc. I heard an NPR report that the Chinese are interested in getting into their own coffee business, the entire supply chain from bean production to their own brand coffee shops. (1) It only makes sense that a CD to recognize Chinese New Year would be mixed with a little cafe mocha as a part of the company's business plan. (2)
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I listened through the CD several time driving from Pullman to Spokane, and from Portland to Corvallis, yesterday and the day before. This morning I put the CD player on repeat, and listened to Miss Shanghai over and over. I had two
meetings in downtown Portland today. After dropping my rental car off at PDX, I took the TriMet's Metropolitan Area Express (MAX) light rail to the Lloyd Center stop for my morning appointment. From Lloyd Center, it was to Pioneer Square for my afternoon meeting, and then from Pioneer Square back to PDX - the Red Line all the way. It was interesting how out of place I felt - not knowing the series of stops like I do for the D.C. Metro. The view of Portland from the light rail was also different than the typical sights seen from series of exchanges along Interstate 5 as it runs along the Willamette with the city's skyline across the river.

This evening, I played Miss Shanghai the same way as this morning when driving from Portland back down the valley to Albany - on repeat mode; over and over - a three minute song, at least 25 times. The headlights from the oncoming cars heading north on I-205 streamed by as I drove south bound to intersect with I-5.
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(1) The album cover reminds me of Chinese peasant art style.

(2) I think it was six years ago that on a flight from Baltimore to the west coast, I sat next to a young fellow who worked for Starbucks and was in charge of choosing the musical CD's that are promoted and sold in the stores across the U.S. It seemed like a pretty good job - I wonder if he was the one who chose the World is China selection.