image credit: The Onion
It's confession time. I realize that I might appear to be immune to the lure of chains and I want to correct that assumption. I must confess: Recently I bought a coffee at Starbucks. And it was not my first time. This is something that happens a couple times a year. I try to avoid it, but it’s not easy to avoid. Not because I like their bitter, acidic brew, but because there are few other choices available.
The evil genius of chains like Starbucks is that they take our power to choose away from us while, at the same time, convincing us we actually have more choices, thanks to their extensive menus. The feeling of having choice is more important than having choice (much like safety and SUVs--see Malcolm Gladwell’s fantastic piece on that one).
photo from flickr
But I have more to confess. Twice a week I have bought coffee from Dunkin Donuts. On those two days I leave my apartment too early to have homemade coffee. On the way to the bus I pass a Starbucks and a Dunkin Donuts. Why choose one evil over the other? Dunkin Donuts tastes better, I have a visceral hatred of Starbucks, and I grew up with Dunkin Donuts (they started in 1948). Somehow, they seem more benign to me. I know this is an illusion and yet, flawed human that I am, I get swayed.
“I have no other choice,” I’ve said to myself many times, “It’s only Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts!” It's a bitter pill that many of us swallow. But is it really true?
Moishe's: 50 cents
Last week I decided to pay more attention—something I accuse others of not doing enough—and I noticed three other places where I could get non-bodega coffee on my way to the bus: Moishe’s, B&H, and Veselka.
Why, oh why, when I extol the virtues of these very same establishments, did it never once occur to me to buy my morning coffee there? Why was I so convinced I’d been completely robbed of choice?
So here’s the kicker: Chains absolutely rob us of choice and falsely convince us we have more choice by offering lots and lots of empty options, this is true. But what if they also make us blind to the few remaining choices that still exist right before our eyes? Of course, if we don’t see those choices, we don’t choose them, thereby doing the chains’ evil work for them, starving our mom-and-pops of business. It’s a truly diabolical machine.
B&H: $1.25
Granted the gift of new sight, I tried all three alternatives. Moishe’s is good and super-cheap, but only comes in small (note to Moishe's: get large cups). B&H is also good and comes in large, as does Veselka's. So now I have choices--no doubt even more I've yet to see. And that’s it for me and Dunkie's. I am free!
Reverend Billy, if you’re listening, can I get a Halleluiah?
For today, as we get a brief reprieve from the psychological tyranny of Starbucks, the veil will be lifted. And those who don't go running for succor to Dunkie's will see that choices do still exist--and may continue to exist, so long as we dare to exercise our right to choose them.
Veselka: $1.50
13 comments:
I get My coffee from a bodega from my local Mugabi guy. However, in my situation I have little other choice as it is the cheapest compared to the bagel store, and there are no Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts anywhere nearby. My girl recently informed me though, that you can get a dollar deli style coffee from Starbucks, all you have to do is ask. Sometimes they'll claim that this promotion is only in Seattle, but believe me, insist and they'll reveal it's true.
i'm not sure what your morning route is but it seems from the other places you mentioned you may also want to drop by the stage restaurant next to orpheum. also, 9th st. bakery has good cheap coffee. a little further up for david's bagels.
here is another onion article from 1998 regarding starbucks' plans:
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/29030
what about mud coffee?
i think mud coffee is not that good. i don't understand the popularity. that new mom and pop, abraco, on 7th btw 1st and 2nd aves is awesome and very social and neighborhood-y. very expensive, though. puerto rico on 8th btw 1st and 2nd is yummy, although not their iced. also not cheap.
i have very mixed feelings about new mom-and-pops that are super-trendy and expensive. part of me wants to support them, another part wants to replace them--like with a cruddy but down-to-earth falafel joint, such as the one that used to be in the abraco space.
There is simply no excuse to take caffeine in using Starbucks' used automotive oil as the medium. Buy any of a thousand different bottled teas from a deli. The swill Starbucks sells is just about the worst coffee in existence. It reminds me of day-old coffee.
I have spent years trying to convince people who are otherwise perfectly acceptable quality snobs that Starbucks is donkey manure, with mixed success. But some just want to back up their claim to upper-middle-class-wannabeism with a large, stoic brand.
I guess Butthead was right: you can't polish a turd. But you certainly can grind it down and brew it.
You can always give up coffee.
l'emmerdeur is right, Starbucks serves coffee that tastes like it was brewed with vinegar and cigarette butts. People only drink it because a.) it's omnipresent and b.) it's trendy.
In Pittsburgh where I live we have Crazy Mocha, which is local and very successful. In a lot of neighborhoods where you see the two together, you often see more people in Crazy Mocha. It's all about the power of the consumer.
here's a few more i've found near by-ish: i think the coffee at gem spa is good, is that a bodega? and then there's that abraco new place on E. 7th & 1st ave. i think the coffee at the deli with the taxi drivers on 1st ave right near 2nd street is better than average deli coffee; i've been pleasantly surprised by the coffee at yonah schimmel knish (and best hidden good bagel!); is porto rico too far for you? if not, that's the best deal; what about juicy lucy & little veselka in the park near 1st ave entrance of F? if in noho, it's a little more spendy, but still a small biz - cafe angelique is really good - they are nice; are you near that eco-bakery place (sis of birdbath on 1st ave near 11th ish?; and then i like rapture's coffee on A ave near 12th ish; liquiteria has good coffee; whenever yippie coffeehouse is open on bleecker, they have 50 c coffee; atlas cafe on 2nd ave; haven't been there, but new cafe blu? i work nearby so a couple of my workmates & i are always tallying up the coffee places... our fave right now is abraco with the friendly jamie guy - a bit more expensive (with lavender shortbread!); and then the affordable standby is porto rico - a large americano under $2 and sometimes a special deal. who says we hafta give up coffee?? --respectfully caffeinated submitted (and i try to make mine most days and bring a thermos, but when i don't want to bump into anyone with my thermos, or they are all piled up in the sink, i guess i hafta buy some)....stef
i don't get it. you have the same anger that i have about what's going on in nyc (and everywhere else) but still allow yourself to patronize these corporate monsters. it bums me out because if you of all people spend your money there then there really is no hope. dude, ditch the dunkin.
so ditched. that said, it's hard to be a purist and impossible to be perfect--and i am neither.
in the days before massive chain proliferation, i could enjoy an occasional visit to one without guilt and rage and painful ambivalence.
i am not actually against chains per se, but rather the part they play in the monoculturization of our city (and country, and world).
a gap, a banana republic, a couple dunkins here and there...i've got no problem with that.
what we need is a city in which ALL levels of commerce can thrive--the luxury, the mainstream chains, the mom-and-pops. we used to have that. now we don't.
gregory's coffee on 14th and 1st - semi-palatable and without all the ubiquity - has vanished. i wonder what will take it's place.
also, my first job as a youngster was at a dunkin donuts. it was before i started drinking coffee. but people then and now swear that it's actually damn good coffee. i've never been especially particular about how it tastes; i'll get a cup from a bodega based on price alone.
if i want to sit and hang in a coffee shop (i.e. pay for the "coffee experience") i will seek out somewhere with a good atmosphere. i've never had starbucks coffee, but their atmosphere is like a shitty suburban living room.
starbucks does indeed serve one function - as many important bloggers have noted - it is a public toilet. i was told that even nyc tour books now advise visitors to look for one when they need to relieve themselves while power-shopping.
Hard to believe that Dunkin Donuts is upscale now.
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