Small things I like about America
My favorite coffee shop, Borders Cafe in Champaign, will be closing these days. It will be replaced by 'Seattle's Best'. I spent many fun hours there, and it will be somewhat sad to see it go. Since I enjoyed their coffee products often enough, I also partook of their frequent-user program. Basically, I had a little punch card and I would get a free drink when the card got filled up, which would be after ten drinks. It may not seem like a big thing, many American shops have a similar program, but in most other places it would be unheard of. People would just find a way of scamming the system and in the long run the program would have to be scrapped.
Now comes even better part. Since the new cafe will no longer accept Borders punch cards, I was able to redeem the punch cards regardless of the number of points I earned. So I got two free drinks, one with five points, and the other one with only three (I had two cards). This again is a good business practice: it rewards the loyal customers even through the transitional times, and garners the good will towards the new establishment. It's a small thing, but it adds to an overall quality of life I think.