The Power of Small

Yesterday I stopped in a bookstore cafe to order a coffee. To rationalize this consumption of caffeine here instead of at home, I gathered a few magazines about writing and found a seat in the cafe, near where people ordered their beverages. Because I was within earshot of them, I found myself listening to how and what they were ordering.

I am happy to report that everyone I heard order something opted for small. Small latte, small white mocha, small frapucchino (isn't it always small?), small cookie, etc. So then I started thinking: Downgrading to small is actually a form of upgrading. In the long run anyway. Financially.

These people were perhaps thinking what I had thought when I ordered my coffee, that I could have made a cup at home before I left. But small is a good start; which may explain why one coffee chain is closing hundreds of its stores nationwide.

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