Letters to the Editor
blunderdog
Published Letters: 527 Editor's Choice: 10
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One Barista's Comments
[Read the article: The meaning of Starbucks]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Well, Starbucks is as it is--a mixture of the good and bad.
I worked there for a few years.
I'm surprised how many folks are talking about "Starbucks coffee" as if it's just one thing. They sell something like 30 different roasts/blends, and there are MAJOR differences between them.
A couple things about their business model I never understood:
-- why do they brew French Roast, Gold Coast, and Sumatra as the blend of the day SO INCREDIBLY OFTEN? These are (in my opinion, and yes, I had to learn a good bit about coffee while I worked there) the burntest and most bitter blends they've got. New customers unfamiliar with Starbucks coffee are very likely to be disgusted with those blends, and because they are new customers, they don't yet know to ask for the "mild" blends, which are much more familiar to the American coffee palate. I personally do not care for dark roasts, and I suspect most Americans prefer the medium- to light-roast blends. If you honestly believe that "Starbucks coffee all tastes burnt," you might consider trying Guatemala Antigua if you see it offered.
-- why do they brew all their drip coffees so strong? The urns hold 96 oz of coffee, for which 12 oz of grounds are used. The instructions on the back of the bags say to use 2 tablespoons of coffee per 6 oz cup. Whoa! I like my coffee pretty strong too, but for me, 2 tablespoons brews a 16 oz cup of coffee, not a 6 oz cup. Some customers ask for their coffee to be diluted with hot water, and I totally understand why.
-- why EVER did they decide to start offering "hot food"? Talk about a ridiculous gamble. (That's what drove me to quit, incidentally.) The single most-common complaint I encountered about Starbucks was that it can take a LONG time on line waiting behind folks ordering their half-caff triple venti sugar free vanilla nonfat lattes--this complaint almost always came from people who just wanted a decent cup of brewed coffee. Compound that problem by adding "hot food" service, and it's even more unbearable.
It's no surprise that they've hit their ceiling and are starting to contract. I worked at a fairly busy store in Manhattan, and there were 6 other stores within a block and a half.
I suspect that the plan all along was that underperforming stores would see rotating-door management, but it always seemed to me that there was never sufficient recognition of the importance of location. The store I worked at was right across from the theatre where they filmed the Letterman show. We did a brisk business with all the folks waiting on line to get in to the show's audience. The location around the other block on 7th avenue had nothing like that going for it, and at least 3 managers had lost their jobs there in the time I was working.
Anyway--if Starbucks coffee is "nasty" in your world, you haven't experienced truly nasty coffee, or you've only tasted a blend that just isn't for you. The company does some things reasonably well, and brewing coffee is one of those things, even acknowledging the criticisms above.
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If We Flip this Around, it's a WIN
[Read the article: Scary! YouTube ordered to hand your viewing history to Viacom]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]At least we know the Congress' and administration's YouTube viewing data have to be turned over, too. (The White House will likely argue that it has the right to scrub Bush's viewing history before Google releases it, because he was watching YouTube solely to protect our nation's security.)
Heck, since it's being introduced into evidence, let's call for it to be publicly available. I'd be curious to know what kinds of YouTube clips the SC justices watch, among other folks.
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I hate low-carb urban dwellers!
[Read the article: Triumph of the low-carbon city dweller]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Always going on about how much bacon and sausage they eat, drinking their Michelob Ultras, and...huh? Oh. Nevermind.
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Maliki's "just" a Politician
[Read the article: McCain dismisses Maliki timetable talk ]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]How would it make any sense at all to elect a man President who has such obvious disdain for ...gasp... POLITICIANS?
Hello, Senator McCain. News for you: Senators are POLITICIANS. So are PRESIDENTS.
What does this guy think *he* is? He thinks he's a soldier or something?
Gads. So incredibly sad that he hasn't been laughed out of this election process yet.
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I support the change, BUT
[Read the article: Men (and women!) at work]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]How exactly does it help anything? WHY are these changes so important?
People are going to read the signs now and think to themselves, "Gee, those signs all used to say MEN WORKING and I never bothered to question my own inherent sexism. Now, I realize that I must be constantly on-guard against my own prejudices."
Really?
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Heh
[Read the article: More about McCain's 300 economists]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]These guys should start a class-action suit against the McCain campaign.
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Bleh
[Read the article: Putting boobies on a pedestal]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]These kinds of posts bug me a little.
There are some real issues that are probably worthy of attention. But you had to post this nonsense instead.
It's all just hand-waving and semiotic theory. It's worthless.
It doesn't inform anyone of anything important, it doesn't help people understand real oppression of women, and unfortunately, it gives lots of people ammo to use against putative "feminists" who would rather gripe about things like "herstory" than actually take constructive steps to improve things.
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Directions:
[Read the article: There's no rape in Williamsburg]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"To be honest, even though I go to Manhattan to get my regular haircuts, I have no idea where Williamsburg is. I'm kinda curious about checking this neighborhood out just so I know what people are talking about." --ClearBlueSea
Take any Manhattan subway train to a 14th Street station, and transfer to the Brooklyn-bound L train.
Get off at the first Brooklyn stop--the first one after 1st Ave.
For best results, you should do this at 10pm on Friday night.