This story was just ready for me to use. I've been
thinking about this very issue for a long time. You see,
I have many students coming into class after a break
with cardboard cups of one of the THREE coffee
franchises on campus.
And they saunter it, holding the cup as if it was a
baby that they wanted to show off. They truly seem
to think in the better-life-through-consuming-cool-products.
money and not enough sense.
I had a colleague once offer to buy me a coffee, and get
this for crazy. I like espresso, but she produced a credit
card (pre-paid) that meant an espresso became a
double espresso at zero cost. This is nuts, because
a double is just a single with twice as much water.
It costs Starf*^cks nothing, and yet make the customer
feel like they're getting something by pre-paying for
coffee. Nuts!
And, as far as I can tell, these cups are not recyclable.
I enjoy a good cup of coffee, but the paper cup makes
any good coffee taste bad, and the smell of it is rotten.
It makes coffee stink.
Anyway, Iain noticed some important aspects of this scourge:
-our addiction to coffee chains . You like Starchucks, Costa Lotta or what?
-Unsubtle up-selling, dirty tables, locked lavatories
-he related the Onion News story: Starbucks opens in rest room of existing Starbucks
-Polystyrene comfort blanket [they stink even worse]
-Good news. moderate coffee consumption reduces
the risk of heart disease cancer, type 2 diabetes and alzheimer’s.
[I wonder if cardboard cups reverse any of these benefits. I know I'd
have a financial hemorrhage if I paid £2 for a coffee twice a day. I'm
exaggerating, but it just gets me thinking like a smoker. How much
is my stupid habit costing me?]
