Recently I had an emergency internet need and was in the middle of nowhere Texas. I had to think fast and find a place with wireless. There was a Starbuck's an hour away, so I drove there to use the internet only to find out the service is provided by T-Mobile and costs $9.99 for a one time access (or you can subscribe for a monthly charge). I'm so used to every coffee shop in Austin offering free wireless that I was really shocked and irritated. Starbuck's has a high enough profit margin that they can well afford to offer this service free as well. I actually went so far as to write Starbuck's a letter of complaint (yes, I'm that woman) and they gave me a non-response.
Then I had heard about this coffee region thing in Ethiopia when NPR did a story on it. Basically, Ethiopia is trying to assign a system
similar to French Appelacians for wine to their coffee, in essence copyrighting their coffee and entitling them to a larger share of the profits (they currently make about 3 CENTS per cup of coffee sold).
Here's a link to the petetion to get Starbuck's attention. Until they can get their acts together, if you must have a frozen latte please visit a locally owned coffee shop. I guarantee you can find one just as tasty and they are often quicker and less expensive. In Austin, I love Epoch coffee on North Loop and in Houston Cafe Brazil is always a good bet.
I guess if you personally have stock in Starbuck's you might not agree with this. But then again, if you have stock in Starbuck's you're probably not reading this...
I have to say I'm getting pretty sick of my generation and their apathetic ways. The older generations are creating a huge mess for us that we're going to spend the rest of our lives cleaning up and dealing with, all because we are too busy shopping to vote or get involved in our communities. I have a friend who has been volunteering with me recently and all she can talk about is how her involvement with the organization has not resulted in a return on investment. I tried in vain to explain to her that wasn't quite the point.
I guess all I can do is keep trying to care for all of us and hope that it catches on.
1 comment:
Feh- I'm not much of a coffee drinker, but when I do, I don't even like Starbucks' coffee. (They make decent chai sometimes, though.)
That said, I prefer a local coffee shop for the ambiance and tea selection.
I hate to pay for internet access. My peeve is at a hotel; I can get it for free at a motel, so why should I pay for it at a hotel?
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