Joan Crawford vs Charlton Heston

[zyzyly]

Pretty much every afternoon I visit the starbucks(yeah, yeah, I know)that is sort-of midway between the hospital and the little franciscan church. I get the same thing every time--a double espresso, which is a habit I brought back from Italy.

I like this particular starbucks--the people who work there are friendly and talkative, and always make me feel like they are happy to see me. I sit at one of the tables, sip my espresso, and write a few words in my journal.

At the counter of this particular starbucks is a little whiteboard where they post a different trivia question every day. If you get the question right, they toss in an extra shot to whatever you're getting. So, if you order a soy mocha half-caf iced latte with caramel and seven packets of splenda, you'll get a soy mocha half-caf iced latte with caramel and seven packets of splenda, with an extra shot of espresso!

Or, in my case, a triple espresso.

I would say that I know the answer about 50% of the time. Of the other 50%, I can usually make a correct guess fairly often. If I have absolutely no idea, I make something up.

The question today was something along the lines of, "Who was Charlton Heston's rival in the famous chariot scene in Ben Hur?"

I had no idea, but a startlingly lifelike mental image came to me of big intimidating eyebrows staring at me from the next chariot over, and so I guessed, "Joan Crawford".

The "barista" looks at me and says, "Who is Joan Crawford?"

That's ok. One time, at another starbucks, the "barista", after taking my order and standing there for a minute, whispered to one of his co-workers, "what's a double espresso?".

Comments

[poetbear.livejournal.com]

hahahahahahahahahaha!
we have a favorite Starbucks™
that we visit at least 3 or 4 times
a week, too. we're always made to
feel welcome there. whatever else
you might say about them, they are
surveyed to be one of the best
franchises in the US to work for.
love that picture of Joan!
~paul

[daisydumont.livejournal.com]

stephen boyd as messala. hubba. :)

[daisydumont.livejournal.com]

not as scary as joan

[myasma.livejournal.com]

i ended up googling it when I came home, just to satisfy my curiosity.

I like my mental image better!

[fried-pearl.livejournal.com]

Who's Joan Crawford? Was he for real? *sigh* I'm getting old.

[wantedonvoyage.livejournal.com]

My first name is Christian. People will periodically invert the last two letters, when they do, I reply with a similar picture and the words "BRING ME... THE AXE!".

Only some of them get it.

Do you have Caribou Coffee where you live? It is a similar chain, possibly run by an equally snarky corporation, but I find them more inviting, especially if you plan to linger as you described. Maybe it's the fireplace. Our Starbucks is too little to really be comfortable in for very long, but they will let you eat your takeout from Whole Foods (next door) as long as you buy something there too.

I remember the scene now

[imgomez.livejournal.com]

Joan was leaning way over the side of her chariot as they raced down the home stretch, cursing and whipping Charleton Heston with a wire coat hanger.

[jeffholton.livejournal.com]

I went into Starbucks a year or two ago and ordered a grande decaf soy mocha. The cashier turns to the barista and says, "Grande 'why bother?'"

I loved it. :)

[carocrow.livejournal.com]

*snort*

Ah, to be young again. Not. Next time, you can *show* her who JC is, by beating her soundly with a wire coat hanger. She probably hasn't seen one of those before, either ;-)

[idasusan.livejournal.com]

Well, the absolute best scene in that Ben Hur was when Boyd's character came back to town and saw Heston's Judah Ben Hur for the first time in some years. Boyd had been directed to act the scene as if he were in love with Heston. Heston of course had no idea that that was going on. It is really priceless. I learned about this when I watched the "Celluloid Closet" a verry interresting film that can be rented.