Do Yo Have What it Takes?

SO, what exactly do you do with YOUR typical day?

Please don't do that to your filter organs. Clearly you are capable of thinking why would you want to go into a Disney store? Who are Ben and J-Lo? Is that the story of a dog and the boy who loved him, no wait that was a TV dog show.

Have you ever seen John Carpender's 'They Live' (1988) it is a 98 minute breifing you may want to see before you go. Get the glasses.

reading, writing letters, painting, cooking, meditating, listening to music made by people, making jewelry, pottery, biking, walking, writing poetry, volunteering, advocating, hiking, singing, cleaning, dancing, breathing, wondering, sharing with friends, talking with family, making love, sharing food, demonstrating, laughing, sewing, gardening, imagining...

the list could go on and on...

there are thousands of things to DO that require little or no consumption. be creative. turn the TV off, turn the computer off and look at something that doesn't have a screen... which is what i'm going to do now!

I could handle the latte at starbucks (not a fan of their company, but coffee is coffee to me). The "breakfast" would be damn hard to choke down. No way in hell would I be able to set foo tin the disney store though, and the Top 40 music would make my ears fall off to spare my brain the trauma. I would not live through the "family friendly" restaraunt, I would be screaming at people and throwing steak knives.

Oh, and while I do have two televisions, I can not get Leno or any other stations on them, I purposely have no cable TV and no antenna. I think that saves me more agony than anything else.

I go to Starbucks. I admit it. I'm addicted to reading the New York Times at Starbucks. Is there a twelve step program for me?

And just why is it that Starbucks is worse than, say, Coffee People or Seattles Best?

Coffee People offers FRESH BREWED ORGANIC ESPRESSO called human bean. When you order your drink you have to ask for it because it's not on the menu. They are the only ones to offer it. Also they are a Portland based company and they are not a multinational corp. You don't see two coffee peopel's right next to each other.

So get your specialty drink with organic yummies today.

Appleby's? Breakfast at McDonald's? Do I look like Bill Gates?

You also don't mention how prohibitively awkward in the social sense that these things are, I mean going to Appleby's or to a mall. Even if I had the money....but I've always been saying that.

It's like asking someone to break strike to see what it's like. Why the hell would I want to know what feeling like a scab is like? Most of us, at one point or another have had the unpleasant experience of consumerland, the strip mall's answers to amusement parks. Most of us were extremely lucky to make it out of the jail. There is no reason what so ever to answer the corporations challenge, that we don't know what America is or what America does by going out and breaking boycott. Fuck them, they can't have my money! If you get involved in your community then you know more of what America is like than if go through the drivethru.

It's an interesting, creative idea, but here's the problem. The point of being a radical is that it's not an "either side of the fence" thing. It's not like you are EITHER a boojie consumer or you are a homeless bike riding never-misses-a-demo shoplifts what ze can't dumpster dive vegan warrior. There is an entire spectrum of lifestyle in between. Being a radical is a constant struggle to minimize the damage you cause to the world around you through cognizant mindfullness of the consequences of your every conceivable action, and appropriate avoidance of those actions that would be harmful. I don't boycott starbucks because I don't know what it's like to drink coffee there, I boycott them because to support them is to hurt others. I don't drink at Coffee People because there is a small, worker-owned coffeeshop near my house called the Red and Black that is struggling more than Coffe Folks (also, I absolutely can't stand that "coffee drinkers bill of rights that's printed on their non-reusable cups. It makes no sense, and I feel dumber every time I read it). I don't eat at McDonalds because it's bad for me and it's bad for their workers and it's bad for the world.<p>
ON THE OTHER HAND, there are plenty of boojie things I do in my life already that give me perspective on the boojie lifestyle. For example, I have recently been driving a lot. At first, it was because my girlfriend/housemate drove and didn't have a bicycle. Then my bicycle broke, and it was so easy to just start driving what we now refer to as "the car" but until as of late referred to as "her car". Now I have to work a job that requires me to tote around too much shit to fit on a bike or on the bus (400+ lbs), which means that I have to drive in rush hour traffic every day, which means that I am one of those people who is probably going to get held up behind a critical mass one of these last fridays (don't worry; I'm looking for other work). Will I piss and moan about it? No, because I think CM rocks. That's another thing about being a radical: It's about not being ignorant. Once you are a radical, you always are, even if you sometimes do things that aren't so radical. The point is to be mindful of what you are doing, at least realize it when you are fucking up (as I am), and take steps to not fuck up or to stop fucking up. My one-sentence response to this article is this: I don't have to shove shit up my nose to know it stinks.

Driving in a car at night every once in a while is a good thing for bikers to do so they realize how visible (or not) they are to drivers. Likewise, I like this suggestion (although I can't actually ingest the food; sordid memories will have to do). But the point is well taken that many of us retreat into our Portland bubble (including me) and have no sense of how most people in the Amerika live. Sometimes we have to be reminded so that you can talk to others on a constructive, rather than destructively preachy, level (especially me).

As for the Coffee People thing, I want some more info. I've started drinking Stumptown espresso now and then and can ride in a heavenly bubble of my own for hours. I don't know if I've ever had a more perfect beverage, but this Coffee People stuff has gotten me intrigued. Someone also told me that CP has the greatest chocolate coffee milkshake. Though I'm more the double or triple shot of espresso type, I'd like to hear more.

The following info is taken directly from Coffee People's own website.

Coffee People's roots in Oregon can be traced to the Saturday Market in Eugene Oregon.  Our founders, Jim and Patty Roberts, started in the coffee business in 1974 by roasting small amounts of specialty grade coffee and offering it for sale at the Saturday Market.  In 1976, they opened a small coffeehouse in Northwest Portland called Coffee Man.  In those days, the focus was on roasting, conversation and the sale of whole beans.  The first Coffee People Coffeehouse was opened in 1983 on NW 23rd Street in Portland.

Today, our division has grown from two people dispensing beans and conversation in one small store on NW 23rd Avenue to 24 retail locations, hundreds of Oregon team members, and over twelve thousand customers every day.

 In July 1999, Coffee People became part of the Diedrich Coffee Family.  The rich authentic coffee heritage of Diedrich Coffee and the product portfolio of Coffee People have proved to be a perfect match.  While Coffee People continues its creative, local, and innovative approach to coffee service, Diedrich Coffee, a high end specialty coffee roaster, now expertly roasts Coffee People's special blends according to traditional Coffee People recipes to honor the heritage of this concept, pioneered in Portland.

Ok, Starfucks or Coffee People, oh my god who is more altruistic? -themesong to jeopordy right now- you are fucking around about coffee? IT"S COFFEE! You know that benign breakfast drink. Wake up, without the brown beverage, god forbid we don't have coffee. AAAAGGGHHH!!! Don't debate the small shit.

Thanks for looking taht up for me. I have traveled quite a bit in the Southwest and I have never seen Coffee People outside of Portland, that is why I said what I did. Howver I know for a fact that they offer fresh brewed organic espresso drinks. You get more one more shot of espresso than Starbucks and Seattles. So if you want a weaker coffee drink make sure to specify how many shots of espresso that you want. I think the best emergency coffee drink I ever drank there was the velvet hammer. So if you live to far from teh cool innner city coffee shops o' organics you can always go coffee peopel instead.

Also did you get peep at the title of this article? Isn't it the military slogan? That's why I thought it was a joke...

Sorry Auntie but you couldn't get me to set foot among the hordes during the "busiest shopping day of the year" mania tomorrow. It would produce complete overload and in our me-me-me-focused consumer-driven holiday shopping frenzied society, no one would ever stop to revive me. They probably wouldn't even notice I'd gone down. Re. Disney, if you folks haven't read Carl Hiaasen's TEAM RODENT: HOW DISNEY DEVOURS THE WORLD, go to the library and treat yourself. It's a quick read - only 83 pages - and equally humorous, appalling, entertaining, and saddening. My opinion of "Insane Clown Michael" didn't change but I found new reasons to loathe him.

There may not be any Coffee People's outside of Oregon. It was bought over by Deitrich Coffee in '99. Deitrich Coffee has it's own coffeehouses in California. After buying Coffee People they may not have expanded the name outside of Oregon. As stated in their info Deitrich roasts the coffee for all stores however. I didn't mean to dispute anything you wrote except that it was a Portland based company. I knew that they had sold out several years ago.

Everyone should just go to the coffee house they like the best. I find it easy to hate Starbucks because their coffee sucks, and they have brought the standard of "gourmet" coffee way, way down. Personally, I like a roaster from Corvallis called "Allann Bros." I wish there was a "Beanery" (their coffeehouse) in Portland. Currently there is one in Salem. Starbucks is trying to starve them out by putting two shops on each corner of the block across the street from them. It is so laughable how evil their tactics are. But it's not working. The Beanery is doing good business.

After spending nearly four hours at the mall, Christ-Mess shopping, and being around the mall-zombies, I realize what a herculean task I've proposed. I did go to Old Navy and looked at sweaters. The cheapness and uniformity of their clothing a find strangely appealing, but knowing it's made by women and children with a M-16 pointed at the backs of their heads I find repugnant. I'd like to see Fran Drescher in a commercial showing that scenario. She could be dressed in a Old Navy pseudo-military outfit (I saw 'em there) and pacing the aisles of a Sri Lankan clothing factory, with a rifle cradled in her arms.
One thing I did observe, was that the people at the mall can now be classified into less and less fake social groups now. I think I deserve extra credit for going into Hot Topics. Ever seen this store? It's your one stop shopping place for your teen's fake-punk needs. They practically advertise it as a way to give your persona a complete make-over. It made me come up with a great line to give to any wanna-be punks: "is that a real punk rock shirt, or a Hot Topics punk rock shirt?".
The Starbucks thing was more a response to the Pod-person's thinking that they are THE ONLY coffee place on the planet. I remember when espresso booths where everywhere and Starfucks was only in malls and retail strips. Some of these joints made good drinks and some were clearly in it 'cuz it was a booming thing. I've noticed that the indy's that are still at it in spite of their being a 'Bucks down the street, tend to be really, really good at what they do. That's why they are still there. Mom 'n pop video stores went through a similar process of natural selection. The few that are still around tend to be great at stocking rare and/or subversive titles (Vancouver's Video Connections being a goog example).
The conlusion I've come to lately is, let the sheep all graze in one place, all the more room for us.

"...The nation's #2 coffeehouse company (behind Starbucks), Diedrich's outlets operate under the brands Diedrich Coffee, Gloria Jean's, and Coffee People..." source: http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/51/51942.html

If you buy a coffee for a buck fifty at least four times a week, that comes out to about $280/year. I would rather take my $280 worth of yearly business to the Red and Black, which has a nicer atmosphere and lets me go in and drink out of a reusable cup (starbucks and coffee people put their coffee in disposable cups, which pollute the environment, even if you are not a "to go" customer). They are worker-owned, and I can go to the same place later in the evening to drink beer if I like. Isn't that great? You can have your hangover cured in the morning by the same place that gave it to you last night!

The New York Times addition sounds a bit more serious to me than Starbucks. ;-)


peace