Lightbrite- lol! That would definitely be an emergency situation! But I don’t think that was the issue they were talking about.
Meno – that is true in theory, but I guess the point is that it is generally only when people are travelling that they are likely to be stuck! I mean how likely is it that someone is sitting at home, and they DESPERATELY need a coffee, and they are out of coffee, and the ONLY place they can get coffee is Starbucks???
Like, if you can get out to Starbucks, why can’t you get to the supermarket and purchase coffee (or borrow from a neighbor)?? Unless Starbucks is open 24/7 (is it?) and there are no supermarkets that are open 24/7, and it’s the middle of the night and for some odd reason you desperately need a coffee in the middle of the night and somehow you didn’t plan ahead and buy coffee (or borrow from a neighbor) when you saw it was used up? Not a very likely scenario, imho.
I think that in general, travelling is often used in halacha as a reason to be lenient in many areas – such as netilas yadayim, and davening before netz, etc. So it does seem to be something that is recognized in halacha as a circumstance that can allow for leniencies.