A lot of people hate Starbucks. They've been accused of using anti-competitive business strategies, like allowing certain locations to operate at a loss in order to run smaller, independent competitors out of business. They're also often disparaged, at home and abroad, as representing the metastasis of American-style consumerism--an aesthetically repulsive, morally dubious, homogeneous, tacky and inauthentic update on the same old mercantile "bourgeois" culture that populists and aristocrats alike have been hating on, in one form or another, since feudalism ended.
Permit me to digress for a moment: I have 2 coffeeshops in my hometown. One (let's call it "Rim Rorton's") has plastic booths and stools bolted to the floor, a 30 minute time limit in their seating area, and miserable employees who make minimum wage and wear humiliating fast food-style uniforms. The other ("B***** Street Cafe") is an independent establishment wherein a staff of slouching, moody undergraduate hipsters (who also make minimum wage) complete orders at their leisure, get stoned at work, and generally act like their customers should be grateful to get their coffee at all.
I like Starbucks. They're friendly, professional, relatively consistent, and not too expensive. Sure, they're only asking, "How are you today?" because they want my money, but that's better than a "Fuck you, Jack" from people who are still taking my money. If Naomi Klein and Kalle Lasn wanted to serve me better coffee for cheaper, and maybe throw in a heartfelt hug or handshake and a hot meal for the homeless in the bargain, then I'd happily throw my $1.70 their way. In the meantime, I'll get my coffee at Starbucks, and I won't feel guilty about it.
RATING: 90%
(Image from www.therealestatebloggers.com.)
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4 comments:
Tim Hortons’ service is faster, its coffee is tastier, it serves real food, and they’re usually not full of pretentious, cell phone-talking nincompoops.
I'm a Canadian who's been going to Tim Horton's all my life, and I'm afraid I disagree with you. The two Starbucks I've spent any amount of time at--one in Seoul, Korea and one in Richardson, TX, have been full of normal people doing normal things--working on their laptops, drinking coffee, chatting, etc. There are pretentious people everywhere, of course, but almost none of the hipsters I know would be caught dead in a Starbucks.
I like Timmy's too, when it's fresh. You can't get real coffee cream down here like you can at home. But their restaurants are ugly, their seats are uncomfortable (I couldn't spend an afternoon reading at TH's), and IME they don't treat their employees very well, although I'm sure it varies from place to place.
One thing I don't like about Starbucks is when I get a delicious blueberry scone and it turns out it has like 500 calories. Damn, Gina!
What, there was no Second Cup by you? My friend got hardcore gay cruised at a Second Cup. Until Americans who hardcore gay cruise each other in a coffee shops can get married, I'd say Second Cup wins.
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