Allen Herbert Posted April 12, 2004 Share Posted April 12, 2004 nice pleasant plastic surroundings, and pleasant robotic staff. Hey, you can have plastic, low wage earners, too. Job centre. They have to smile, or else! Plastic, like the place they are in. One day, they will all be Managers. yes, they will! For plastic people...and for the stainless sterile steel types, who want that touch of sterile/plastic class. Starbucks, the place to be seen. Free copies of the Mail. Hey, who needs the Sun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allen Herbert Posted April 12, 2004 Share Posted April 12, 2004 A failure of the education system to train them to do something worth while with their lives. Making coffee, or frying burgers, seems sort of sad. Maybe those who frequent such places, should role their sleaves up, and cook their own food. Rather than wanting folk to toddy to them, and waste their lives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james_.1 Posted April 12, 2004 Share Posted April 12, 2004 Well, a lot of us probably have worked the occasional menial job. Fits the bill sometimes when they're unemployed and working their way up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d._p.1 Posted April 12, 2004 Share Posted April 12, 2004 a very interesting & entertaining thread, thanks. Star*ucks is a symptom of a changing world, but SUV`s are a much worse symptom. Imagine everybody driving a SUV! <br><br>Imagine 1 billion Chinese all driving SUV`s! Maybe in another 10 years, if GM c.s. reach their growth targets? How long before we walk around with gas masks eating purely synthetical food? <br><br>"We're doomed, lemmetellya, doomed..." unless people stand up against the marketing hype, think for themselves and take THEIR OWN responsability. Chuck the SUV for instance. Unfortunately the USA, together with Australia the biggest producer of greenhouse gasses per capita, and with close to zero media diversity, is a very unlikely place for that to happen. But I remain optimistic and do believe in miracles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patricks Posted April 12, 2004 Share Posted April 12, 2004 Darn, I'm starting to see some stron resemblance between this thread and the Annual World Bank/IMF meetings here in DC... Chris Chen got some good pix from those I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
._._z Posted April 12, 2004 Share Posted April 12, 2004 <i><blockquote> Starbucks is a way of life/culture that should be forbidden </ blockquote> </i><p> There are none in Syria, Iran or Cuba. They have such wonderful histories of forbidding activities too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan_brown4 Posted April 12, 2004 Share Posted April 12, 2004 All of the Starbucks in these here parts are Hotspots, so people get off on that. Hotspots as in IEEE 802.11(b) wireless Ethernet open environments. 2.4GHz T1 Internet access, no charge. Well, except for the $4 cup of coffe and the $3 scones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
._._z Posted April 12, 2004 Share Posted April 12, 2004 There's a difference between coffee and espresso drinks. At NYC Starbucks shops, which possibly have the most expensive coffee prices in the US a small cup of coffee is $1.55 and a scone is under $2. Where do you have $4 coffees and $3 scones, Dan? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vic_. Posted April 12, 2004 Share Posted April 12, 2004 Starbucks provides rent-free office space with a free internet connection for computer savvy Dell-laptop-using ex-dot-commers looking for their next minimum wage job. Full of women with pierced tongues and labia. That's worth a cup or two. Let's not forget Panera and Whole Foods, two other yupster hangouts. From an aesthetic standpoint, the heavy, baggy, sweats-wearing, McDonalds eating women go to the "Stop and Shop" while the trendy, "just been to Aspen" skinny rich tanned women go to Whole Foods, Panera, and Starbucks. America is certainly one of the most class conscious countries, with one of the biggest income disparities in the "First World." There's nothing plastic about Starbucks, they provide a pleasant atmosphere for the price you pay. Very upscale feeling, even for those who don't belong! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuart d Posted April 13, 2004 Share Posted April 13, 2004 So Vic, have you done a census to determine the percentage of females (employees and customers) at said establishment who have pierced labia? What was your opening gambit? :-) Funny you should mention Panera. They were shut down in Boulder, CO for nonpayment of taxes. Oh, and James - shame on you. Now I've got a hankering for Good Times burgers & frozen custard. Guess I'll have to wait till Friday... Back to Starbucks - check out this link: http://www.illwillpress.com/sml.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary_brown2 Posted April 13, 2004 Share Posted April 13, 2004 How about an Easter rebbit!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My daughter works there!!<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael s. Posted April 13, 2004 Share Posted April 13, 2004 Yup -- It's between $1.55 and $1.70 for a cup; more in some non-US locations; a bit more on the toll road; more in some airports, too; and certainly more for the fancy frappachadiadado concoctions I personally don't like and occasionally mispronounce accidentally on purpose. But since we've been talking here for nearly 24 hours, Starbucks has miraculously picked up on the hints in this thread, gained monopolistic control over the market, predatorily priced out every other hot coffee seller from sea to shining sea, knocked down their stores, and raised prices to $3.00 or $4.00 a cup. By the time we wake up on Tuesday, they'll have dismantled the wi-fi, taken out the comfortable chairs, forbidden all reading, and imposed a 10 minute limit on all in-store conversations. Only in America! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael s. Posted April 13, 2004 Share Posted April 13, 2004 Good rabbit shot, Gary. Of course, Gary's posting from the pokey, where he's doing 2 to 5 with time off for good behavior for having broken the "no photography" rules. The fact that an employee was photographed was mentioned by the sentencing judge as a factor in aggravation. On a serious note, I did hear on NPR this evening that Folgers (owned by a tiny company called Proctor and Gamble) is raising prices on its commercially delivered coffee. I sure hope a moderator deletes this discussion before we get to the point where we have to choose between coffee and film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael s. Posted April 13, 2004 Share Posted April 13, 2004 Last one for me. Earlier -- much earlier -- I endorsed comments by Robin on Starbucks. I've re-read his remarks more carefully, and now want to clarify that I meant to embrace only his remarks directed at "marketplace" phenomena, pointing out that if folks didn't like Starbucks, it wouldn't be as successful as it is. I don't share the view that criticisms of Starbucks, voiced here and elsewhere, are somehow "European" (or British) in origin or character. For me, that introduces a nationalistic flavor to this cup of coffee that is potentially divisive (and needlessly so), and perhaps has been shown by this very discussion to be inaccurate as well. It's late. Tomorrow I'm gonna need that coffee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terry_rory Posted April 13, 2004 Share Posted April 13, 2004 Allen, going to a coffe shop (even in a book shop) doesnt mark one down as an intellectual elite! You reading the 'Mail' instead of the 'Sun' certainly does'nt. (I cannot think of a worse newspaper apart from maybe the Guardian which is pretentious twaddle.) Your insulting remarks about the 'plastic' staff in coffee shops astounds me. These are real people who serve in coffee shops and bars and shops you know? (My daughter attends the local university and helps to support herself by being a 'plastic person' at Waitrose on Friday evenings and Saturdays. I was once a 'plastic person' in a KFC and a Hif-fi shop and a bowling alley some 27 years ago when I was helping to support myself as a student in a similar way.) I hope this resolute conviction that you the client (real) and the staff (plastic) have this intellectual gulf between you, is dispelled if any young relative or friend of yours has to help pay back many thousands of pounds in student loans by working in such a position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
summitar Posted April 13, 2004 Author Share Posted April 13, 2004 Wow, I hadn't intended to create a cause celebre, but I have been entertained and mystified by the varied comments. Seems like Starbucks is a rival to microsoft for the title "evil empire". My typical morning routine is to brew a thermos of coffee at home, freshly ground Starbucks beans but purchased at Costco at considerable cost savings. I stop at a Starbucks along the way to work to purchase either a slice of banana bread or an orange cranberry scone to eat in the car as my breakfast, and one of their excellent sandwiches to eat for lunch. May I recommend the Turkey with Havarti for US $4.95. The food is consisently good. As I wait in line, I am amused by the people specifying their coffee requirements to the n'th degree. I often ask the cashier, "Hey, can I just get a cup of coffee here?" I usually drink my own in the car, but when not available I usually order a grande latte, which fills my 23 mile commute as I listen to NPR. Little do they know that I am a card carrying member of the NRA and a 44 year member of the AMS. I do my best to dodge and evade the "tripple witches" I encounter on my commute: an oriental female driver who is using a cell phone. Like many of you, I continue to be amazed that Starbucks can thrive while charging $3.00 plus for a OK but not exceptional cup of coffee, but the service and hygeine and consistency are very good. If you sit in the place to drink your coffee, they don't hustle you out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james_.1 Posted April 13, 2004 Share Posted April 13, 2004 Hey Stuart- over there you have In n' Out, which seems pretty darn good. But you already knew that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricM Posted April 13, 2004 Share Posted April 13, 2004 "I am a card carrying member of the NRA and a 44 year member of the AMS. I do my best to dodge and evade the "tripple witches" I encounter on my commute: an oriental female driver who is using a cell phone." oh boy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beau 1664876222 Posted April 13, 2004 Share Posted April 13, 2004 See? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terry_rory Posted April 13, 2004 Share Posted April 13, 2004 OK OK I give up, what is the AMS (American Musicologist/mathemetical/meteorological Society ?? Google suggests them all) And what is a "tripple witch"? (Google didnt help at all with that one.) I cannot see that a person using a cellphone in a car is any more or less safe than person juggling a large, hot, take-out coffee whilst driving. (Gender and nationality can be left out of this as they are completely irrelelant to the act of driving with or without a coffee or cellphone!) I know what the the NRA is. courtesy of Michael Moore's "Bowling for Columbine" and numerous gun related threads on PN in past years. I am English and despite tring to keep up I have to ask for help sometimes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patricks Posted April 13, 2004 Share Posted April 13, 2004 OK, I guess I should own up and take responsibility for introducing a negative comment about the Starbuckization of every city/corner of the world. My bad. Sorry. To you know whom - lighten up, it is just an expression. All - it is not a "small" cup of coffee, it is a "tall"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymond_tai Posted April 13, 2004 Share Posted April 13, 2004 I lived in San Francisco at a time when Starbucks started to take over the major residential areas but the then new anti-smoking laws had the most impact in driving under the neighborhood coffee houses. I have nothing against Starbuck's business model but rather its bad coffee, but while in Beijing or Shanghai I find Starbucks to be a quite a nice oasis.<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymond_tai Posted April 13, 2004 Share Posted April 13, 2004 >All - it is not a "small" cup of coffee, it is a "tall"... Don't you find it annoying when Starbucks staff can't pronounce "grande" properly? Us pathetic Amercians....sheesh.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allen Herbert Posted April 13, 2004 Share Posted April 13, 2004 Just a bit of fun, on a fun thread, Trevor. Keep your hair on;) I was once a 'plastic person' in a KFC. Funny comment. I'm not sure what the expression 'intellectual elite' actually means. It is a term originally coined by Harvey, when he is having one of his little moments with Robert Applebury. Gets Robert's goat out, so as to speak, when Harvey uses it on him. I find it a fun expression to use. Anyway, Harvey, can do the Sun crossword in three weeks. So there. So he must be intellectually elite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricM Posted April 13, 2004 Share Posted April 13, 2004 <div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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