Down To My Last Buck

I’m curious of the spectacular hold that Starbucks has on many of us.  Our family included.

I enjoy a good cup of coffee (Decaf) or a green tea latte (Macha) from them probably once a week and hubby, well he brews a cup out of his personal brewer every day before work.

Take today for example, after I finished rowing I went to the local Starbucks for a reward cup of Macha.  

While I am in line, the lady behind me received personal service from the barista who came out from behind the counter, walked over to her and took her order.  She took no one else's order mind you, just the last lady in line – who apologized and said, she comes in twice a day.  TWICE A DAY????

Might I suggest you also buy yourself a personal brewer like my husband’s?  It grinds the beans before it brews the cup – so it’s super fresh…. You probably are able to afford a good brewer if you are there TWICE A DAY – so money should not be an option.  

Just some quick math, but let’s say it’s $2.50 a cup, $5.00 a day, five days a week  - that’s $1300 a year – being conservative – thinking she is just getting a coffee and going M-F.  If it’s a latte and seven days a week  – all bets are off and money is just flying out the window, woooosh.

But what really brings me to this story is the man in front of me in line.  He was on his phone and had apparently no need for personal privacy, although what he was talking about was very personal and very private. 

It started with him telling the other person at the end of the phone he wasn’t getting as many hours as they were, so they should be taking care of something (i.e. you make more money than me- waahh).  

Then he went into the fact that he has been working with the electric company to get his power turned back on (i.e. he hasn’t paid his bill for months and months and months and they have turned his heat and lights off – electricity and gas are combined in our area).

Ummm, dude, this is a small, kinda tight knit area around here– ANYONE could know you inside that building.  Are you sure you want them to know that you don’t pay your bills and you’re petty jealous of someone who has a better wage than you?

THEN, which was the big one for me – he went on to say he was down to his last five dollars.  OK – THEN WHY IN THE HELL ARE YOU IN LINE AT STARBUCKS SPENDING YOUR LAST FIVE BUCKS ON SPECIALTY COFFEE?????  Leave the building immediately.  

Not that I’m being judgmental or anything – but yeah, I kinda am.  Five bucks can buy you two days worth of food at the grocery, a gallon and a quarter of gas, a bag of salt to keep people or even you from falling down on your property on the ice, or even a whole 1lb bag of non-starbucks coffee to brew at home, for a month.

So, today I am officially changing the name of Starbucks to Lastbucks, in honor of the "no personal boundaries" and "poor fiscal choices" fool in front of me in line today.  Instead of the mermaid on the front of the cup, we can put a green dollar sign in the circle, with a line through it.  What do you think??