One of the things I love about not starting at 7:30, is being able to stop at Starbucks or Coffee Bean before starting school. It's a rare occasion that I get to have caffeine made by a trained barista as opposed to myself.
My dad, who is a tad frugal, always complains about this extravagance. There's this theory that he likes to tell just about everyone who goes to Starbucks and other coffee joints regularly called "the latte factor." I'm not sure who else had heard of this, but basically it says that if you eliminate your morning Starbucks, you could be a millionaire. I'm not sure how true this statement really is. I mean, if you get a coffee every morning it could run you about $5 or so. $5x365 is a pretty big number if I did my math correctly: $1,825. To make this theory plausible, I think it's saying that you have to eliminate all extravagances and unnecessary purchases, not just your morning coffee. This theory reminds me of Peter Singer, the man who wrote "The Singer Solution to World Poverty" or something like that, except that you are using the money to benefit yourself rather than help a cause.
I'm always amazed at just how much money the big coffee companies make. Whenever I go into Starbucks there's always other people in there. I went to Seattle in September with other students at my school. Seattle is known for its coffee. Starbucks originated in Seattle, but there are supposedly many good, small coffee chains. I wouldn't know because instead of trying the coffee from the local coffee shops, we immediately rushed to Starbucks mostly because it was the original Starbucks, and we were all interested in getting the special gift card that was only sold at that Starbucks. It's really sad that we live in this mindset where we automatically associate good coffee with Starbucks and are so closed-minded that we are unable to branch out and experience the unknown.
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Did you hear the Starbucks story on NPR today? Apparently, there's a reporter rallying for the removal of a Starbucks in China's forbidden city. Also, the CEO is frustrated with the fastfood-izing of Starbucks. Ironically, they're now opening in India and other places, upping their total store count to something like 40,000. I smell an essay (and freshly-brewed coffee).
Wow, I didn't realize it was $5 for a cup of coffee at Starbucks. Geebies, that's pretty expensive, although I doubt anyone would save $1 million by ex-ing coffee out of their lives. Or I suppose making coffee at home brings the price down. I think a one pound bag of 100% kona coffee (which is my favorite type of coffee, SO GOOD, you should definitely try it if you ever get the chance) runs for about $16 at Costco. That's a nice way of saving money and still getting a good cup of coffee in the morning!
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