The Starbucks logo has become iconic. From Yuma to New York, you can get your brain brewing by getting a mocha latte—and coughing up a few bucks. Waking up ain't cheap anymore. It’s rather lamentable that we’ve abandoned our own kitchens in favor of enacting time-honored morning rituals at a store among strangers, but maybe there’s an upside to this exotic bean trend. Perhaps Starbucks is engendering a sense of community among its patrons in a world where people pass each other on the sidewalk with scowls on their faces.
A visit to Starbucks reveals vignettes of life in modern America. There are the quiet web surfers and e-mailers in the corner, sipping coffee as they type on their laptops. Others read the latest bestseller or work the New York Times crossword puzzle. These scenes are snapshots, like little snippets from McCartney’s “Penny Lane”: a nurse selling poppies from a tray; a fireman with an hourglass; a banker waiting for a trim. Ordinary life that we take for granted.
And then there are the Starbucks coffee baristas, a term used for those who serve espresso. The word is derived from the Italian baristi, or bartender. They’re generally an agreeable lot who seem to know their arabica beans from their robusta.
It’s mind-boggling to think of how 300 million Americans might function on any given morning without caffeine jazzing up the synapses of their brains, but Starbucks ensures that we can’t travel more than a few blocks without the opportunity to jump-start our neurotransmitters. At present, the coffee chain is frequented mostly by those who like a trendy, upscale atmosphere. I wonder if grandparents will, in fifty years or so, reminisce about those quaint old coffee bars that represented “the good old days.” They might say, "Look--that's where we met and fell in love!" The times, they always are a-changin’.
The next time you go out, take a look around and click your brain-shutter. Nothing stays the same for very long. Whether that’s good or not—well, you tell me. (Picture: Public Domain)
A visit to Starbucks reveals vignettes of life in modern America. There are the quiet web surfers and e-mailers in the corner, sipping coffee as they type on their laptops. Others read the latest bestseller or work the New York Times crossword puzzle. These scenes are snapshots, like little snippets from McCartney’s “Penny Lane”: a nurse selling poppies from a tray; a fireman with an hourglass; a banker waiting for a trim. Ordinary life that we take for granted.
And then there are the Starbucks coffee baristas, a term used for those who serve espresso. The word is derived from the Italian baristi, or bartender. They’re generally an agreeable lot who seem to know their arabica beans from their robusta.
It’s mind-boggling to think of how 300 million Americans might function on any given morning without caffeine jazzing up the synapses of their brains, but Starbucks ensures that we can’t travel more than a few blocks without the opportunity to jump-start our neurotransmitters. At present, the coffee chain is frequented mostly by those who like a trendy, upscale atmosphere. I wonder if grandparents will, in fifty years or so, reminisce about those quaint old coffee bars that represented “the good old days.” They might say, "Look--that's where we met and fell in love!" The times, they always are a-changin’.
The next time you go out, take a look around and click your brain-shutter. Nothing stays the same for very long. Whether that’s good or not—well, you tell me. (Picture: Public Domain)
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