Let me start by saying this: support your local coffee shops.

Let me also say that the worst decision Starbucks has ever made was to stop selling gingerbread lattes during red cup season. I LOVE GINGERBREAD LATTES.

That said, Starbucks has very cleverly roped me in with their sweet sweet fancy coffee and bonus stars. And convenience. (Admittedly, my closest Starbucks, while only 0.2 miles from my house, is further away than two local coffee shops, so is it really that convenient? Yes, yes it is that convenient.)

The key with Starbucks is to evaluate offers for bonus stars with clear eyes. For example, the other week there was an offer: “come twice for 55 bonus stars” but going once got you 40 bonus stars, and the second visit only got you 15 more stars. So go once because you want a caramel macchiato, but save your dollars and your calories on day two.

Speaking of caramel macchiatos, the deal in my inbox right now gave me a bit of a chuckle. The deal has you choose one of three options, and you’ll get 80 bonus stars (just over half of the points for a free fancy coffee) if you complete the challenge. I assume the options are personalized based on what people order regularly. My options:

• Option 1: Buy three macchiatos, get 80 bonus stars.
• Option 2: Buy three macchiatos, get 80 bonus stars.
• Option 3: Buy four macchiatos, get 80 bonus stars.

Definitely not choosing option 3! (Actually I’m opting out of this challenge. I love my caramel macchiatos, but three in a week is a bit much. And I have a free coffee available from Peet’s for my walk to the office on Thursday, though that’s in my email and not the app, so…we’ll see if it works.)

Starbucks is my go-to for randomly gifting coffee to people having not good days because of how easy it is to send an e-gift. All you need is the recipient’s email address. If you’ve read this far, I recommend that you go and randomly send someone $5 for their own fancy coffee fund. (It shouldn’t be me, but if you want to gift me coffee later, my email address is rak at dcdotnerd dot com.)

Can we make the world a happier place this evening?