I love Starbucks

Say what you will about the massive corporation and coffee giant that is Starbucks, but I love it. I loved it when I was in high school because it was ellusive -- an alien place where I knew so little about coffee that it was impossible for me to order without the help of a friend.

I loved it my freshman year of college as the place where the Baristas were always happy and smiling.

I loved it that summer when I became one of those Baristas and learned not only the names of all the drinks but how to make them. I became an expert at steaming and foaming milk, pulling the perfect espresso shot, and how to talk someone into a drink that I think they should try. Coffee is a strange sort of love and it creates its own unique culture. When channel surfing, I can't help but stop on the Discovery Channel when it runs a special on coffee and where America got it from (Italy, in case you're wondering. Originally, the Middle East developed espresso and Italy stole the idea of the coffee bar and turned it into the culture that it is today.)

I then learned the love of a local coffee shop named Jittery Joes in Athens and became an employee as fast as I could.

And after graduation, when I desperately needed to pay off the last semester's debt, Starbucks welcomed me with open arms as an employer until the day I quit to work for TrialGraphix.

Starbucks strives to make itself your "third" place. (I apologize if it's a different number, I'm a bit hazy on the particulars) It's not work, it's not home, but it's the third place where you belong. In a way, it is one of your homes.

And, being a former employee, I know that they donate money to help save the rain forest and they pay their employees well. They also work to help small coffee farmers. It's a great company to work for and offers health benefits after three months of working 20 hours a week or more. It's one of the only companies I've ever heard of that lets you work part time and have health benefits. I know that the company truly cares about making good coffee and serving quality beverages, even if I do occasionally run into a negative experience at a store. Perhaps I drank the Kool-aid the management serve to me but I love the store.

I had registered a $25 Starbucks card online so that if I lost it I wouldn't lose the balance. I get e-mails from them every now and then about the company. And do you know what I found in my inbox this week?

A gift. The e-mail told me the next drink was on them. There was an additional $5 on my card, no action on my part required.

Starbucks gave me a free drink =)

Try to realize that Starbucks singlehandedly created most coffee markets that exist nationwide today and any local establishment is reaping the benefits of a coffee culture that Starbucks created. And it did it in the footsteps of Seattle's Best. Sure, coffee drinkers abound in the world with or without Starbucks. But the quality is amazing and with Starbucks came quality and the only reason that McDonald's and Dunkin Donuts no longer serve black sludge or bitterness in the mornings.

So you can think what you want about the massive, evil, giant corporation trying to take over the world. But I love it.