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Monday, July 07, 2008

Schadenfreude

SchadenfreudeWikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Cite This Source Schadenfreude (ˈʃaːdənˌfʁɔʏ̯də ) is a German word meaning 'pleasure from misfortune'. It has been borrowed by the English language and is sometimes also used as a loanword by other languages.



I'm not a coffee drinker. My husband wishes I was because he likes to have coffee after dinner. I just want to clean up and move on or if in a restaurant, get the check and get out. However I don't mind going for coffee once in a while if I can get a diet Coke. Our town once had several cute little coffee spots but they were pushed out of business by Starbucks moving in.



I'm one that would rather visit the homegrown type of establishment. We had a chain of large hardware stores that were original to this area and owned locally for years. Home Depot arrived but didn't really hurt their business. Then Lowe's joined them and after a few years they just couldn't compete and turned out the lights. Across from one of our gigantic malls was a nice wooded area. Some developer came in, cut down all the trees, displaced all sorts of wildlife and built a plaza with Office Max, K Mart, Dick's Sporting Goods and a few small shops. Did we really need those stores at that location. I don't understand building new buildings when there are others that are vacant. Anyway, in my own little way I protest it. I will not go and shop at any of those stores. Well I did go to Dick's once or twice but that's it.


I do feel bad for the people that Starbucks employeed in the 600 stores they're closing but I don't know what Starbucks was thinking by putting shops in such close proximity to one another. One our Target stores has one in it. Starbucks seems so expensive to me, maybe because I wouldn't pay 50 cents for a cup of coffee. Is the coffee really that good? Maybe people just like walking around with a Starbucks cup so others can say oooooohhh, he went to Starbucks.



So I suppose I'm feeling a little bit of schadenfreude for the high
mucky mucks of Starbucks but not the little people that will lose their jobs. How many job openings can there be for a barista?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm with you...

I'm not a coffee drinker either and Starbucks has never even gotten one penny out of my pocket.

I just can't see it.

And yeah, putting stores 300 feet from each other isn't very practical for business...

ME said...

I know how you feel. Coporate business everywhere seems to be shutting out the little guys.

Anonymous said...

I just never could pay that much for coffee. I am surprised that they are closing so many down though..

Kitten Herder said...

I am a Starbucks drinker. Before they came along, I didn't even drink coffee. I liked coffee ice cream, but I couldn't stand the taste of actual hot coffee. Now, I really enjoy a coffee from Starbucks. However, for me, it's a treat - not an every day thing. And, you're right it is grossly overpriced stuff.

I too feel for the people losing jobs. However, Starbucks totally mismanaged and overestimated their expansion ability. The fact that Starbucks coffee products are served in Target and Barnes and Noble just adds to the market saturation. (In actuallity, the B&N outlets are managed by B&N - they don't take the prepaid Starbucks cards there ... which is probably true for Target as well.)

BTW, I've tried Dunkin Donuts coffee, as well as a few others, since starting down my Starbucks road. And, yeah, I really do prefer the taste of the Starbucks stuff ... though I don't know if I would be so loyal if I drank coffee every day, considering the price differential.