April 20, 2004 - 11:34 a.m.
Fuckin Starbucks, man. This year my mom put a $15 gift card from there in my Christmas stocking. (I guess my brother and I are going to continue to get Christmas stockings until one of us coughs up a grandchild.) So this gift card entitles me to 2.5 visits to Starbucks. This morning I spent $6.10 there! For coffee and a scone! It's $3 now for a small latte, 55 cents to have some coffee in it, and 40 cents for soy because I can't digest milk anymore. That is more than I spend on lunch. I worked at Starbucks for four months, years ago. My parents want me to write a book of my "hilarious experiences." Well even if I had not blocked out all these painful memories, they would surely not fill a book. This morning though, in addition to the absurd tab, I was offended by a poster they have up. "Tomoko Suretal is a GARBAGE collector. Tomoko, a Starbucks barista, takes home coffee grounds to use as fertilizer in her garden! That is just one way Starbucks is reaching out to the community to keep some of our coffee grounds out of landfills."
Tomoko, who makes $6.75 an hour, cannot afford fertilizer. In fact, she has to grow all of her own vegetables in order not to starve to death. The idea that her taking some coffee grounds home from work is a PR story makes my stomach turn for so many reasons. For instance, this is having a significant impact on landfill use? Please. I thought I would shrivel up and die in there. However I think I will enter their sweepstakes to go on an Earthwatch expedition. Those things cost $3,000, and don't get me started on that...
