Weekend Blog #17

The weekend blog is off the topics of business development, networking, marketing, sales, PR and branding. It is my chance to just write about anything.

Five Observations At A Starbucks

1. Americans used to be frugal. Not any more. I remember being a kid and my parents gave thought to the money they spent. Money was not tight, we were solidly middle class.... but my folks never would have spent four dollars daily for a cup of coffee. My dad drank coffee....but he drank it at home or at the office.

As I type this on my laptop at 9:30 AM on a Saturday morning, the line here at the coffee house is sixteen people deep. The men and women in line appear to come from every ethnic and economic background, yet they are all bonded together by the fact that they are spending on coffee an amount of money that could feed a family for days in a third world country.

Yes, my "grande non-fat vanilla latte with extra foam" does taste good, but I question if it is the best use of $3.85.

2. University of Texas fans are forced to wear the most horrible shade of orange. Of the sixteen people in line, nine are wearing orange (home game today). Yes, I have lived in Austin for 15 years, and one would expect that I would be used to the unique shade of burnt orange that is this great university's signature. Although I did not go to school at UT, I am a fan (and yes, I own lots of burnt orange shirts and caps), and I am very proud to see the football team on track to go to the national championship at the Rose Bowl (Boooo to USC). But still, it is not a great color.

3. There are over 19,000 different drinks one can order/create at Starbucks. However, the bartista continues to call out "grande mocha at the bar". Seems like hot chocolate with two shots of expresso is a very popular drink.

4. This Starbucks looks just like every other Starbucks. The earth tone, pottery-barn-like furniture, brown tile floor, etc... I think people find comfort in conformity. Even those who claim to be "anti-conformists" seem to dress just like all the other "anti-conformists".....thus making them conformists.

5. I wish I had learned to play chess. There are two old men at a table across the room who have been playing chess for the whole time I have been sitting here reading the paper and typing this blog post. It just seems cool to be old and sitting in a coffee house playing chess. I figure in the next twenty years I will need to learn the game, so when I am old I can be cool.

Have A Great Weekend.

Thom Singer
www.thomsinger.com
thom@thomsinger.com