About three weeks ago, my mother said that she was going to give up Starbucks indefinitely, and donate the money she spends on coffee monthly to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals or local animal rescues.
Fear sank in. At the start of college, she had given me her gold member Starbucks card, and there are a only a limited number in existence. It is not an exaggeration to say that this card was my prized possession for the first semester of school, so naturally, I feared that she would cut me off as she did herself. And at first, she did not.
However, a few weeks ago, she told me that she was permanently canceling the Starbucks account. I can not express how disorienting this was.
I have always been very fortunate that my parents have funded my coffee and chai tea addiction. Starbucks is extremely expensive, and I wouldn’t be able to afford my daily runs on my own. Many would question why I can’t just get coffee elsewhere, such as the dining hall. This brings me to my next point.
Starbucks concocts many drinks with unique flavors and an unsettling amount of sugar. If I were to try to make similar drinks, I would have to confront the amount of sugar I was putting into my body weekly. This isn’t the only problem.
Carrying around a blank cup or a reusable tumbler full of coffee is not the same as carrying around a Starbucks coffee cup. Trust me, I know. I have been carrying around a freebie cup I received on the front lawn of Barrett for the last few weeks. It doesn't feel the same.
This made me question the societal implications of carrying Starbucks drinks around, especially on the ASU campus. Many would argue that better quality coffee can be found elsewhere, and a significant amount of money would be saved by making it yourself, so why do I choose to buy coffee from Starbucks, besides the fact that one is present on every street corner?
As of 2015, Starbucks has 21,000 stores in over 65 countries. It is a multi-billion dollar corporation that has not only managed to monopolize the coffee market, but has marketed its drinks as a status symbol. As I mentioned earlier, Starbucks drinks are very expensive, and thus, by buying their drinks, I am portraying myself as “wealthy.” The cups themselves are a sign of wealth. Some people even go as far as to save the cups to refill with their own coffee or other drinks. I would advise against this, however, because regular Starbucks drinkers can tell.
Additionally, especially among our generation, Starbucks is a way to conform. Most students at ASU would consider getting Starbucks drinks to be “basic.” Out of fear of being classified as basic, I will often ironically ask my friends to meet at “Starbs to grab some iced chai tea.” It sounds a bit ridiculous simply because saying that I am going out to get coffee would suffice, but I have bought into this Starbucks coffee subculture.
It was not until my coffee privileges were taken away that I realized these drinks hold more weight than their contents.
Yes, the money is going to a good cause, but I am a brat. All this being said, I still want Starbucks, and I crave it on the daily. I am not suffering a withdrawal from coffee; I am suffering a withdrawal from Starbucks.
Related Links:
Caffeine culture: How three downtown coffee shops got their start
Reach the columnist at ghirneis@asu.edu or follow @ghirneise2 on Twitter.
Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this column are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.
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