Posted on 12/18/2004 9:21:19 PM PST by Commie Basher
I go to Starbucks about once a day, and I've noticed that Christmas is everywhere in there! They have "Christmas blend" coffees, and special "Christmas peppermint mochas" and Christmas this and that.
This is surprising, since they have a "liberal" reputation, probably because they talk so much about helping the environment, and promoting the community and diversity. Although curiously, the Left hate Starbucks despite their liberal outreach.
BTW, there are SEVEN starbucks in my Santa Monica neighborhood, three of them on three contiguous blocks. There are also three Starbucks in my parents' Queens, NY neighborhood.
I've long had a question: does anyone tip at Starbucks? I feel obligated, since I go so often that they recognize me. I once sent a comment to Starbucks on their forms, suggesting that they pay their employees enough to that tips wouldn't be necessary.
IMPORTANT: Christmas lovers should go to Starbucks, pick up one of their comment forms, and send a thanks to Starbucks for saying "Christmas."
And, of course, Starbucks is a Jewish enterprise. Take that, Shmuely Boteach!
What is a "Shmuely Boteach"?
Starbucks has been under fire in Seattle because roasting coffee gives off chemicals that are as bad as acid rain! Drinking Starbucks to the enviro wackos is like driving a full size SUV.
Personally, I'd rather businesses that do not have a genuine Christian philosophy to dispense with the hypocrisy and stop using Christianity to enrich themselves. For all of the criticism of companies who are doing away with the moniker of "Christmas" in their advertising, well at least they are being honest about what they are about, whereas other's think they can sell Christmas coffee, Christmas underwear, or Christmas toilets and gain approbation from Christians.
Friends don't let friends drink Starbucks.
"What is a "Shmuely Boteach"?"
ROFLMAO!!! I think he's the "love Rabbi" or somesuch!
Hubby likes starbucks, and although I prefer my joe plain and Amurican, since the poster points out their use of the word "Christmas", and since the left hates them, even though they are the left!, I will make it a point to have a cup of joe from Starbucks this holiday shopping season, should the opportunity present itself.
MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL!
Starbucks is a commercial enterprise. There are a lot more Christians in the US than members of all other religions combined. It makes good business sense to market their products for Christmas.
Correct. Starbucks does not love Christmas, Starbucks loves money.
Sometimes I tip and sometimes I don't. Depends on the day of the week and how much I have left in my pocket.
I recommend eggnog late. As long as you're going to spend that kind of money on a cup of coffee, might as well get something special.
well at least it isnt calling for a boycott...
one day I might start drinking any coffee, not just Coke.... :)
It does make an amount of sense Business-wise as the vast majority of this country A) drinks coffeee and B) considers themselves Christian. Sounds like the perfect thing to do to me from that standpoint....
"I recommend eggnog late."
Now, I appreciate your advice, but we've got to face a few facts about eggnog: If it doesn't have bourbon, it's not eggnog, if it doesn't have raw eggs, it's not egg nog, if it has (heaven forbid!) "ultra pasturized" milk products, it's undrinkable.
Hubby likes to get that "red-eye" shot in his starbucks.
And I think I'll have to be making a real egg nog, this year for the first time in a long time. Is it bad to use Woodford Reserve for an egg nog? We'll get the organic, our chickens have a latte anytime they want, super poultry friendly eggs....and we'll have at it!
Merry Christmas, and a prosperous New Year!
What do you recommend early?
Patronize privately owned coffee shops. The coffee is usually better (Starbucks over roasts theirs) , the prices cheaper and the profit used to support a family in your neighborhood.
Curiously, you can buy eggnog all year round in NY, but only seasonally in L.A.
The Starbucks employees at the hotel where I work wear Santa hats. :o)
Great idea!!!
I agree that commercialism linked to Christmas is sad and hypocritical, but the alternative...it seems...is no mention of Christ/Christmas at all. Thank you, ACLU and assorted PC idiots.
I've also sent three Thank You letters to nearby stores that say "Christmas" in their windows. Unfortunately, since so few do, it's not too hard to send letter to them all.
Hey, hey. I agree. There are some really fine privately owned coffee shops out there. Usually better prices too.
Sometimes I listen to radio personality Tammy Bruce. Tonight she mentioned Starbucks as having donated 100% to the Democrats. Her site for this figure also has a list of companies that donated to the Republicans. She is NOT someone I listen to regularly but she can be on the right side of some issues. Just thought you might like to know.:)
http://www.buyblue.org/current_campaign.html
Well, but I'm addicted to Coffee Frapachinos ...
Jackie Mason on Starbucks:
Starbucks is the best example of a phony status symbol that means nothing, but people will still pay 10 times as much for because there are French words all over the place.
You want coffee in a coffee shop, that's 60 cents. But at Starbucks, Cafe Latte: $3.50. Cafe Cremier: $4.50. Cafe Suisse: $9.50. For each French word, another four dollars.
Why does a little cream in coffee make it worth $3.50? Go into any coffee shop; they'll give you all the cream you want until you're blue in the face. Forty million people are walking around in coffee shops with jars of cream: "Here's all the cream you want!" And it's still 60 cents. You know why?
Because it's called "coffee."
If it's Cafe Latte -- $4.50. You want cinnamon in your coffee? Ask for cinnamon in a coffee shop; they'll give you all the cinnamon you want. Do they ask you for more money because it's cinnamon? It's the same price for cinnamon in your coffee as for coffee without cinnamon -- 60 cents, that's it. But not in Starbucks. Over there, it's Cinnamonnier - $9.50.
You want a refill in a regular coffee shop, they'll give you all the refills you want until you drop dead. You can come in when you're 27 and keep drinking coffee until you're 98. And they'll start begging you: "Here, you want more coffee, you want more, you want more?" Do you know that you can't get a refill at Starbucks? A refill is a dollar fifty. Two refills, $4.50. Three refills, $19.50.
So, for four cups of coffee - $350.
And it's burnt coffee.
It's burnt coffee at Starbucks, let's be honest about it. If you get burnt coffee in a coffee shop, you call a cop. You say, "It's the bottom of the pot. I don't drink from the bottom of the pot. But when it's burnt at Starbucks, they say, "Oh, it's a blend. It's a blend." It's a special bean from Argentina....."
The bean is in your head.
And there're no chairs in those Starbucks. Instead, they have these high stools. Did you ever see these stools? You haven't been on a chair that high since you were two. Seventy-three year old Jews are climbing and climbing to get to the top of the chair. And when they get to the top, they can't even drink the coffee because there's 12 people around one little table, and everybody's saying, "Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me".
Then they can't get off the chair.
Old Jews are begging Gentiles, "Mister, could you get me off this?"
Do you remember what a cafeteria was? In poor neighborhoods all over this country, they went to a cafeteria because there were no waiters and no service. And so poor people could save money on a tip. Cafeterias didn't have regular tables or chairs either. They gave coffee to you in a cardboard cup. So because of that you paid less for the coffee. You got less, so you paid less. It's all the same as Starbucks -- no chairs, no service, a cardboard cup for your coffee.
Except in Starbucks, the less you get, the more it costs. By the time they give you nothing, it's worth four times as much. Am I exaggerating?
Did you ever try to buy a cookie in Starbucks? Buy a cookie in a regular coffee shop. You can tear down a building with that cookie. And the whole cookie is 60 cents. At Starbucks, you're going to have to hire a detective to find that cookie, and it's $9.50. And you can't put butter on it because they want extra. Do you know that if you buy a bagel, you pay extra for cream cheese in Starbucks? Cream cheese, another 60 cents. A knife to put it on, 32 cents. If it reaches the bagel, 48 cents. That bagel costs you $312. And they don't give you the butter or the cream cheese. They don't give it to you. They tell you where it is. "Oh, you want butter? It's over there. Cream cheese? Over here. Sugar? Sugar is here." Now you become your own waiter. You walk around with a tray. "I'll take the cookie. Where's the butter? The butter's here. Where's the cream cheese? The cream cheese is there." You walked around for an hour and a half selecting items, and then the guy at the cash register has a glass in front of him that says "Tips." You're waiting on tables for an hour, and you owe him money. Then there's a sign that says please clean it up when you're finished. They don't give you a waiter or a busboy. Now you've become the janitor. Now you have to start cleaning up the place.
>Old Jews are walking around cleaning up Starbucks. "Oh, he's got dirt too? Wait, I'll clean this up." They clean up the place for an hour and a half.
If I said to you, "I have a great idea for a business. I'll open a whole new type of a coffee shop. A whole new type. Instead of 60 cents for coffee I'll charge $2.50, $3.50, $4.50, and $5.50." "Not only that, I'll have no tables, no chairs, no water, no busboy, and you'll clean it up for 20 minutes after you're finished." Would you say to me, "That's the greatest idea for a business I ever heard! We can open a chain of these all over the world!" No, you would put me right into a sanitarium.
Starbucks can only get away with it because they have French titles for everything, Nazi bastard son-of-a-bitches. And I say this with the highest respect, because I don't like to talk about people.
Why should anyone tip at Starbucks?
In my book, a tip is a gratuity paid to a service employee who delivers exemplary service and/or goes above and beyond the normal scope of his/her duties. When they do, I will go above and beyond the normal fee that I am expected to pay to receive normal service.
A tip for someone who is already paid to schlep an overpriced cup of foam and sugar to me? Not hardly.
Someday I am going to nail a Santa to a Cross on my front lawn.
They are a good company for labor laws and reward their employees beyond what most minimum wage jobs do. They are worthy of my business because they deliver a good cuppa Joe ... and the rest is just good American business sense.
America is all about BUSINESS ... even to the point of exploiting Christmas. It's really not a bad thing.
Well, Starbucks does have faux ITALIAN names for their coffee ... but then I love jabbing Euros by mocking their language anyway. In my neighborhood [Hollywood CA] the Starbucks abuts a Winchell's Donuts. I can buy a Winchells coffee but I have to buy a special dark blend. I have to put up with the acrid smell of inspid donuts and the coffee is less than robust.
So Starbucks gets my dollar for it's basic "Coffee of the Day". Can't beat it for flavor.
The coffee is expensive,
strong and bitter if you ask me.
Anyway no one goes there for just a cup of Joe
It's more for the speciality drinks which I'm sure you can name them all.
I have to confess I frequent there on my way home from work or at lunch.
I thought they changed the name to four bucks.
I do. I love coffee. A venti " Coffee of the Day" ... not frills, no sugar, no cream. They make robust coffee ... not brown water which most other places sell.
Classic!
I just buy Java-Na or Millstone beans in the store and grind them myself.
Open on Christmas
Does a company who "loves" Christmas make their employees work on Christmas? Personally, I patronize nobody on any major holiday because they shouldn't be open for business.
Funny Mason routine, but he's partly wrong. Some of the names in Starbucks are not French, but Italian. For instance, the sizes: Tall, Grande, and Venti. I believe the latter two are Italian.
Jackie would say, "it's all Greek to me."
I didn't like the taste either, but then I tried the Frapachinos. I also have a friend who hated Starbucks's taste, until he tried the Coffee Frapachino.
Baaa-Humbug!
This coming from a group that has probably been on Ritalin most of their lives
" Hey, hey. I agree. There are some really fine privately owned coffee shops out there. Usually better prices too."
Grind your own. It's cheap and good.
Around here, the gasoline/convenience stores have excellent coffee. They always have 3 or 4 different roasts that aren't flavored. I usually mix the dark roast and the breakfast blend. Twenty ounces is $1.50.
If you want that sissy latte/capucino stuff, you'll have to go to Starbucks. I think there's one about 25 miles from me.
Two on Montana, or three now?
"Send me your eggnog recipe!"
Delta 21, I will! As soon as I come up with one, haven't made one in years, due to the whateverdisease it is you are supposed to get from unclean poultry. But my friend has made them several times with no ill effects, and the supermarket has about 6 kinds of organic eggs, so this year we will try again!
If it comes out good I will pass it along to you.
Merry Christmas!
Call me old fashioned, but I only tip people who's wages are based on tips. If you're getting a real wage, I'm not tipping.
That's great stuff.
TIP at Starbucks? Their coffee is 4 bucks/ a cup. I think their profit margin is high enough, thank you.
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