Wednesday, August 31, 2005

The Starbucks dilemma

This all seems rather silly to write in light of the widespread devastation...

Since Sunday, I have been attempting to download some updates to software. Why I initially tried this on my excruciatingly slow dial-up connection, I have no idea. Eventually I gave up and decided to use someone else's high speed wifi. But who should that someone else be?

Usually I would simply head off to Starbucks. But some of my activist children have decided that Starbucks is now a den of iniquity and to be avoided at all costs. Yes, yes, I've read the recent brouhaha all over the blogosphere and have even visited Starbucks' very own website to get the inside story. But can I really boycott every single business whose practices and philosophies run against my convictions? After all, my husband and I already refuse to patronize the Great Satan (aka Wal-Mart) and, if we continued boycotting everyone with questionable morals and business practices, wouldn't we end up having to stay at home and starve?

So I headed off to a nearby town, to the lovely Cafe Diem. They, it was rumored, have free wifi. Even better, they have delicious food and wonderful service. I felt so pampered and well served that I almost didn't care that the wifi signal was too weak and sporadic to do me any good.

That was yesterday. After leaving Cafe Diem, I had no time to venture elsewhere.

Today, I confess, I went to Starbucks. It serves me right, is all I can say. First, the power cord to my laptop would not stay in the outlet. That should have been a sign. Next, I had nothing but trouble trying to sign onto T-Mobile. Then their wifi connection was soooo slooow that I would have done better to stay at home. I gave up and headed to my car, coffee cup in hand.

Once in the car, I wondered...hhhhmmm...have they already printing those "Way I See It" quotes on their cups? As a matter of fact, yes, and mine just so happened to be #43, the words of author Armistead Maupin. It said, and I kid you not:

"My only regret about being gay is that I repressed it for so long. I surrendered my youth to the people I feared when I could have been out there loving someone. Don't make that mistake yourself. Life's too damn short."

It figures that I would end up with the very cup that started this whole anti-Starbucks excitement.

So now I am where I should have started out --- at a public library, using their free wifi. All is well. I've learned my lesson.

5 comments:

  1. Everyone's getting into the free wi-fi market these days. Just down the road from us there's an RV Campground/Catfish farm(yes, we live in the boonies) and now even they offer wireless internet.

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  4. Note: My blog is not here to provide free advertising. I will delete comments that are obvious or thinly veiled marketing attempts.

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  5. Oh my!! I had no clue about what was going on with Starbucks. I'll just bet you they are NOT selling coffee in those cups in the south. That would NOT fly!! And darnit, you've made me feel the need to drive 30 minutes to the nearest Starbucks just to find out!

    Will you share your story about why you boycot Walmart, sometime?

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