It is Tuesday morning and I'm enjoying my rather strongly espresso-laden cappucino. Who doesn't drink Starbucks these days? I have often tried to cut Starbucks from my life, although it is always an unsuccessful venture as most who enjoy coffee can attest to. The proximity of this franchise to my place of work (now often inside a Starbucks shop, instead of an office cubicle) and of course, my home, too, has made it nearly impossible to avoid. It is too bad they still charge for wi-fi. The convenience is unbearably convenient. Why cut out Starbucks? Well, for one thing, it epitomizes the monopoly of an industry, (capitalism thrives on competition, right?) and second, for all of its perky flavors and friendly baristas, it is still a bit contrived. Kind of like the predictability of the WatchMen film I saw last month in theatres. All the bells and whistles of the new film made it look cool, although the content of the plotline was inconsistent, watery, and the message was downplayed by the special effects rather than complimented. Does a love triangle with two superheroes make sense? Or is it possible they simply wanted to make their superheroes super lusty? The latter, I presume. I suppose the prospect of the big, tough guy shedding tears over a lover gone gets the girls sympathizing, rather than punching their boyfriends on the shoulder. Why did you make me come to this movie, Joey, they ask, whining. But the emotion makes sense for the female audience? Not really. The emotional superhero is a superficial charicature of a flesh-and-blood character. This again reminds me of how hollow Starbucks is. The franchise has spread itself so thin across the states, and across international borders that it needed to close branches all over. Some stores are still closing. Live the American dream, Starbucks aficionados. Like any franchise or mass-produced blockbuster, the product sells. Drip coffees and frappucinos have appeal for their chocolate and strawberry aromas. WatchMen will sell because of the special effects, the blue lightning shooting from one’s star-studded boots or the glistening beads of golden sweat that ignite on an otherwise black-and-white screen. (Ah, the treasures of the comic book graphic novel in Hollywood rainment.)
As a darling of the recession myself, caught in the wreckage of those large Fortune 100 companies bleeding their all-important “human resources” the corporation cannot do without until human resources becomes “limited resources.” As the head of a famous corporation said at the beginning of 2009: “We continue to make adjustments to improve profitability and position us for the future. We've made good progress on our expense-reduction program. However, we expect it will be difficult to reduce expenses in line with the pace of the current sales decline. We are taking additional actions in the first half of 2009 to accelerate this alignment…” Indeed. Those accelerated ‘actions’ included a restructuring of the company world-wide, by 8%, with a global reduction in workforce, prompted by certain adjustments to compensate for those limited resources I mentioned earlier. These authoritative companies represent the big fish promising to give the same amount of customer service to their partners and clients, by skimming the fat off of their employee pool, then swallowing the little fish companies. It is simply business. When have I heard that before? “It isn’t personal, it is business.” It is a business decision, but it lacks integrity when the unemployment rate continues to climb and high-level executives are working at entry level jobs, serving dinner plates in restaurants to feed their families. When the ‘expense-reduction’ at the former company climbed to $120 million, yet positions are left by the wayside as lay-offs continue …these positions are contracted out, so the expense is placed in a different category, unseen by the eyes of the ever-watchful auditors. The legal checks and balances we have in place to keep companies accountable, to keep competition in the marketplace constantly moving…There are always loopholes. And in times like these, where anyone can lose a job, no matter who you know or how much revenue you generated, there should be a public eye watching for the few and the scrupulous. The companies with integrity are the small guys. The Mom and Pop stores who keep their clientele by their genuine smiles serving homemade lasagna have integrity. The used book stores who sell first editions and give book sales that don’t shave off costs that were overpriced to begin with, but were already a reasonable value for the dollar. The nonprofit community centers who are scraping by to get new pencils and chairs for classrooms, but still tutor the neighborhood kids and invite moms to give input at townhall meetings. Perhaps I am an idealist. But, I stand proudly. I do not expect Bill Gates to turn his money over to the government or give it all to the little guys. I simply believe this is not a time to be finding the quickest way to swallow the little fish. The little fish companies are the ones that are still giving us jobs, and caring, too. So …back to my bitterness against big-fish-thinking and you have me sitting at Starbucks.
Starbucks is a champion of this type of thinking. Overtextend yourself, then cut back on resources. Then proliferate local service activities, invitations to plays, student film festivals, symposiums, and advocate “going green” when it is in fashion. Despite this obvious attempt at being personal - the reach for community activism and neighborly "service" rings false when there is a similarly adorned Starbucks shop just seconds from the last one you had a nonfat soy sugar free Mocha extra hot something-or-other with no whipped cream. (See how easily that doesn't roll off the tongue?) The definition of a personal coffee shop is Alta Coffee Warehouse in Newport Beach or Steamers in the quaint college downtown of Fullerton. These guys hold local jazz musicians for performances, or have a weekly songwriter's circle, let you bring your own cup of java to sit on the shelf to be used next time you walk in, and has non-barista servers who are an eclectic group of artists, musicians, hippies and the like. These bohemian servers need a job, and are valued for their individuality. Some of them have been there for longer than ten years. Give me some character with my coffee. Some distinction. Now that’s a cappuccino I’ll gladly enjoy.
The strangest thing is that I'm still sitting here, staring at that familiar green-branded logo. We may not be able to boycott all the big fish. But, we can create some chaos and some competition. You'll find me at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf tomorrow, which is just down the street. And perhaps Alta Coffee Wharehouse next Tuesday night. I do love coffee.
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ReplyDeleteA coffee shop that offers free wi-fi with no hassle is my first and pretty much only requirement for spending $2 on a cup of something that costs $0.05 to make myself with a kettle of boiling water and a french press. Starbucks makes an effort to turn everything (including their wi-fi) into an opportunity to market themselves. Seems to have worked well for them but there are still the people like us who just feel alienated for being treated like a commodity.
ReplyDeleteAbout the Watchmen - read the comic would be my suggestion. It's interesting to hear your take on it, from the female perspective. Maybe it's because I read the comic first but it came across to me as what it was intended to be - a real inquiry into what super heroes lives would be if the REALLY existed. How they would act, how people would act around them. I think that's the reason most critics laud the comic, at any rate.