June 1
...serving up your daily dish.
Oh my. If Starbucks is evil, what does that make the Barista?
Williamette (Ore.) Week -- a West Coast version of the Village Voice -- serves up a grande-size cover story on the subject this week.
Many view Starbucks as the ultimate corporate colonialist, and foes have leveled some substantial charges at the chain. To wit, they claim that Starbucks (1) preys on independent coffeehouses, (2) buys coffee at slave wages from farmers, (3) mistreats its employees, (4) ruins local economies and (5) perpetuates the homogenization of the universe through its virus-like expansion.
The answer, the Week says, is not too evil.
Apparently the only thing more American than becoming fabulously wealthy is hating those who do. If you'd bought Starbucks when it went public 12 years ago, you'd have received a 3,000 percent return on investment. The Barista hopes she'll be as hated rich in 2016.
June 1, 2004 in We All Bow to Java | Permalink | Comments (2)
May 25
...serving up your daily dish.
Turns out that there's scientific evidence that you should be drinking coffee basically all day long. The experts say that just using it to crank yourself out of bed in the morning isn't wise. You need to drink it constantly. Well, the Barista could have told you that. (She mainlines it herself.) But the scientific part we learned from our friend at Coffeegrounds.
May 25, 2004 in We All Bow to Java | Permalink | Comments (0)
