Mr who/NyNY its also roasted after the blend, not before.. so you really wouldn't get the same kick-in-the-mouth flavor from mixing the same percentage of post roast beans together.

hey, where did my post go?? this is open thread and i was asking about what i think are fake coupons!

@mol problem is, every other cafe/BK/mcds has easy access wifi, not "purchase a card and keep a balance on it" wifi. a new method could be developed, but the old method didnt work either. Not to mention it would log you out on a regular basis so you spent half of your usage signing back on.

@danB. you were supposed to respond to the request, not verify that i requested something. i have two dogs, i don't need a third pet. @marcus. exactly. well said. @Dean thankyou for being such a perfect example of the pompous ass i am glad to see without a chair. (get it? an ass without a chair?) You are upset that you cannot find room to sprawl amidst the laptops, which you, and many others assume purchase nothing at all during their stay-why is this? most people DO purchase things, all day/night, there are a few exceptions, but not as many as you need to back up your claims. however, the most interested thing i find here, is that you are so annoyed with the inconvenience it has caused you, that you are now unable to carry out your intentions of inconveniencing everyone else in the store. I know you want so desperately to exercise your starbucks rights to loud important mr. businessman conversations, to talk with your arms, scoot your chairs around for dramatic conversational accents, have cell phone wars, each of you darting in and out as if you are keeping score at who is the most popular. but oh no! what cruel disappointment that we do not hold little VIP tent cards to place on your reserved table. If you want special treatment, go somewhere that provides it, and quit taking your business associates to starbucks as a cheap way out.

@coffee drinker re: the rancid taste.. its not so much lack of cleaning, as it is age. atleast for the verismos that is. We keep a sparkly store, and have the qasa pins to back it up, but i CANT GET THAT NASTY FLAVOR OUT. i started to notice it a couple years into the life of the machines, and some of our customers, that ones that frequent several stores in the area, have stopped coming to our store. (everyone around us has mastraenas). I wish I knew some way to fix it, it's definitely a problem with the older machines, the new ones are much much yummier.

@shawn mostly i agree with you. It surprises me how many people feel that they "deserve" a timely seat whenever they choose to enter the building. This doesn't happen at other restaurants. If you go in for a table and there isn't one available you have to wait until one is available. it might be 10 minutes, it might be an hour. you decide how important it is to you to have that seat. No one walks to a table of people who are dining and says sorry, but we require that you finish those cheese sticks in the next 8 minutes. this table is for quick meals only. I'm sorry if you are not a regular and you don't get here early enough to get the seat you want without a wait, but that's life. whether customer 1 buys their drink and leaves or customer 2 buys their drink and leaves, there is still 2 customers and 1 seat. i'd rather that seat be the regular than the entitled passerby who is probably going to be a pain in the ass anyway.

i posted on this to say that i would like to try them also. post is gone now. just sayin.

so DanB: would you like to make a list of "appropriate" uses for one's own personal property that validate usage of sbx internet? "work email only" your policy of choice? who effing cares? do you even have an idea of how LITTLE bandwidth it actually uses to stream pandora (since that was your example). next to nothing. far less than one google image hit per hour. dogs: are not allowed in starbucks. by policy, by health code, and expectedly, by your manager. should he/she not uphold this, i would jump a level or call health dept. /sigh.. if only we could carry the same rule for children..

I do chuckle whenever someone orders a "tall black eye".. said fast really does sound like tall black guy, and i always have to avoid the urge to ask "would you like him rich and handsome as well?" back to topic, we (as i'm sure most stores do) have a handful of customers who i think come in specifically to collect a new name for their cup. There are a lot of things i've written that had it not been at customer's request, i wouldn't do on my own.

@shiftbytherules: exactly my initial thought. I think regulars who usually tip would have fun with them, even if it didn't increase our tips, i would still do it. cuz, well, why not? but i'm supurised to see stores doing this when it is against thr rules, unless it is a licensed store, where there are no rules/standards anyway? @streakin it: sometimes shifts sacrifice breaks, and that's part of being an SS. my day is structured completely by who I work with. some people rock at their job, and those days are great. Some people are complete morons and can't be around sharp objects, those days I don't get a lunch. BUT, at least I'm barking at the moron, and not the moron barking at me.

baristas and SSs alike received personal days until 2009 here.

We get pretty full with laptop people. no-seats-left full often enough. but i'd rather have a person MMO-ing on a laptop, popping up for a coffee refill every 30 mins, than have that seat filled with a mom group or youth group meeting. If someone parks their car, enters a starbucks, and finds the seats full, they are still going to spend money to buy their drink. if you want a seat, get here first, that's how life works. THAT BEING SAID, I think we should openly post a one seat per customer rule. sounds funny I know, but I have seen the starbucks-cubical people first hand. desktop computer, printer, file cabinet. I don't know how thy even get it into the store... holding their workday in the store. These people do need to be handled appropriately. The take over at least two tables at a time, and make everyone around them uncomfortable. (http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2009/02/starbuckswtmk.jpg )

people are idiots on holiday weekends. especially my boss. (((hm. not my boss. our sm isn't in the picture, she has better things to do, so she gave all her work to another shift who we now call our boss since our sm isn't around))) onward.. since she didn't think we might be busy and didn't' bother to schedule extra hands. Although honestly i don't think she even considered the labor necessity since she doesn't work weekends now that she's in charge of the schedule. ihatemystore.

PEACHBERRY FRAPP (and no, orange mango doesn't taste like peaches. it tastes like orange mango and indigestion). CHEESECAKE FRAPP hopefully made with a powder similar to the protein powder so it would be nice and thick. and i know it's a food, but.. CHOCOLATE-DIPPED FRUIT

@Time regardless of your opinion of my time management skills, did you tell me to stop worrying about my country, man up, and get over it? YOU sir are the reason why the weak of mind are so valued. because YOU, don't mind being used, and lied to, and made into a puppet show for your laughing gov't, raking in the cash from your flesh. If you want to toss insults at my busy schedule than feel free to waste your time, I still don't see a punchline in working my ass off for less reward than my lazy coworkers. But if you think you are going to defend the choices of the madly corrupt system you so blissfully worship save the BS for someone who will beleive you. ..and come up with a better response than "study more".

@Colleen My name is similar, has the ahhh sound in the middle, eeee sound on the end, and i too get kelly A LOT. it is my go to alias for girls nights!!

i laughed so hard at these i nearly peed myself.

I work two jobs (one sbx obviously) plus a volunteer position. Im also at least full time in college each semester. im exhausted and miserable, and still can't afford to pay my rent too often to feel okay with. I have coworkers who live off gov't assistance, work part time and have school paid for by the state. at the end of the year they get about twice my tax return. in the U.S. hard work does not pay off. getting this job was the worst thing i ever did. not only i will graduate with 60k in student loans after years of stress and despair but meanwhile my peers will graduate with higher marks (unlimited study time!), less stress and ZERO in loans. hard work DOES NOT pay.

i dont really see the big deal with the clue. although part of me hopes that when it is scanned at christmastime it says 'remember to drink your ovaltine' @pike is pike right now were pushing frapps and whats left of 3region, both of which sell themselves way over target without effort, so you get to breathe freely and enjoy the coconut. unless you go thru the drivethrough where i am required to ask you a whole list of things that will slow you down during your busy day. Thats def. my biggest issue with sbux right now. as an employee who actually LIKES the person taking my order, when i go thru drive thru im generally pretty irritated by the time i get to the window becuase all the questions (not to mention our half-functioning employees) make the grueling process of ordering a drink that i sometimes skip DT if i don't have a full 6-8 minutes to waste for waiting in line to order, pulling around, and then engaging in small talk that i don't care about. PLEASE STARBUCKS learn the difference between cafe and DT. thats why tim hortons is packed in the A.M. and we ARE NOT.

yes the tips are nice. are they required? of course not. But when, like most customers, you're a royal b*tch, make me listen to your three minute phone conversation while you blabber on, line forming behind you with a "just a minute" wave into the DRIVE THRU screen, demand what you NEEEEED in a high pitched squeal - and of course your drink has atleast 5 modifiers that you can't say in normal words becuase mocha isn't as fun as dark chocolate latte (and the longer label looks super important at the office. wow, splenda, and no water and no foam and half caff. you are so clever and sophisticated) even thought you order it every d*mn day, i know that when you pull around you're going to throw a buck in my jar, and i think OK. were even. you treat me like crap, and i'll gladly take your cash and refrain from serving you a 220 degree decaf something or other that you can't make sense of anyway.

crateish / nyc / waltie. i giggled at that little bit. thanks :) re: OP we don't have the theif problem so much here. some customer take their stuff in the bathroom with them. we have one guy who leaves his laptop, but takes the laptop case, i've never figured that one out.. but i think were generally too busy running here or there that no one expects/asks us to stand still and watch their belongings. if anything they shout 'be right back!' on their way out as if we're going to throw away their net book while they run next door for a sandwich or something..

i don't like the refill standards, but they are the bastard child of good intention and departmental intervention.. you can't really expect results with that combo. i don't like to refill cups/personal mugs. they usually look like something that the customer found in their trunk and thought it would be safe enough to drink from for a 10cent discount. i think a lot of this outcry for a greener sbux come from people who live in area's where recycling is easy. however, not all starbucks are located in southern cali. We can't even get the newspaper to come to our starbucks, how in the heck do you expect us to find a place to recycle?? we simply don't have the resources. look on the bright side. at least half of our cups are paper, and not all plastic like many of our fast-food cousins. AND there's no way we waste as much paper as the companies trying to mail me a credit card I guarantee i won't qualify for anyway. we recycle our charges, we did attempt at collecting and transporting our own plastics, it just wasn't realistic considering the cost to recycle and the daily trips to a facility. I think we do just fine, and (to the best of my knowledge) we never served our sandwiches in styrofoam cartons.

tip: complain enough and even when your thermo is "locked" your facilities will teach you how to change it. although, its pretty obvious if you just mess with it. our store was built horrrrrribly inncorrectly, and if the lobby was 75 degrees, the bar would be atleast 80. gotta love smart architecture. I figure that most long term customers would rather bring a sweatshirt than watch my sweat drip into their cups. our air is at 72, heat at 64. if its particularly humid, we kick it down to 71 or else the "fridge" smell starts pouring out from the back. (not that our fridges are dirty, its just that i-should-be-cold smell..) Q: anyone heard if were getting 3 region in VIA? i didn't see it on promo, but im still hoping..

beentheredone /agree ..also, if you get hurt (which lets be honest, isnt hard) you wont get anything reimbursed because you weren't on the clock when it happened!

lisbet: i suspect its the same reason that my spaghetti never tastes quite the same as my dads, even though i follow his recipe and buy the same ingredients from the same store. however, i will offer you an idea.. try a paper cup. EVERYTHING tastes better in a paper cup.