Clawblog

Prior to acquiring a serious espresso machine for my wife at Christmas I used to frequent the local Starbucks on a semi-regular basis to get her a latte.  The one closest to our house is one of the limited stores that incorporates a drive-thru.

Starbucks, or “Four-bucks”, a reference to their high prices I first heard from my Dad, has exploded on the scene in the last 10 years in the U.S. and internationally.  One of the elements they’ve employed as part of their “experience” is the drive-thru, an element about which I am passionate!

Photography by: hyku

It is a very sad commentary on our society when people cannot get out of their cars and walk 50 feet to get their coffee, and instead find it necessary to sit in their cars and wait in a line with others to drop $4 bucks on a mocha.   ???

Are they faster?  I don’t think so.  Though drive-thrus are intended to expedite the ordering process, I regularly walk in and out with my wife’s latte well before a vehicle that pulled in the same time as me has exited with their beverage.

Another issue is the potential impact on the environment.  While I’m not an environmental freak, I am concerned about the environment, as we all are.  I wonder what the aggregate impact is on the environment when you consider all of the vehicles that regularly sit at idle in drive-thrus?

Before the parents with 10 kids come after me on this subject with regard to how convenient they are, how they make things so much easier with the kids, etc., etc., I ask, what did we all do 10-15 years ago before the advent of the coffee drive-thru?  Some may argue we have progressed…..I strongly disagree and, in fact, believe quite the opposite is true. 

Further, the greater majority of the vehicles I’ve witnessed sitting in line at the drive-thru are solo drivers, and not a mini-van full of kids.  Sadly, it seems to me that the majority of these folks are the ones that could benefit the most from getting out of their cars and doing a little walking.

I wish we could shut them down.

chris@clawblog.com

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