# Jaded blue-collar coffee anti-elitism rears its ugly head **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 1, 2007, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaded-blue-collar-coffee-anti-elitism-rears-its-ugly-head/390404 "2007-02-01T12:46:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaded-blue-collar-coffee-anti-elitism-rears-its-ugly-head/390404/21 "2007-02-01T15:14:38Z")
Sorry to buck the trend, or whatever, but if this guy doesn’t like the goofy way they do things at Starbucks, maybe he should just get his coffee at the 7-11 like the OP said. Yeah, the sizes have weird names, and there’s all kinds of phony Italian stuff, but if you hate it, go somewhere else. Don’t act like a jerk to the guy behind the counter. Oh, and **Lightray** , a barista is someone who serves coffee at a coffee bar. It’s a lot harder than just pouring it out of a pot, you know. Do you people call a chef a “food maker”? No fancy soundin’ names for us! We’re Americans by God! You wanna have some Frenchy soundin’ title go to gay Paree, ya stuck up liberals! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaded-blue-collar-coffee-anti-elitism-rears-its-ugly-head/390404/22 "2007-02-01T15:14:45Z")
[QUOTE=D\_Odds] Except if you ask for that around here. If you tell the guy at the deli regular coffee, that means milk and sugar. Regular coffee black is a contradiction. Different regions have different meanings of regular. [/QUOTE] You in New England? I think that that nomenclature is getting a bit old fashioned. Damn kids today don’t know what regular means. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaded-blue-collar-coffee-anti-elitism-rears-its-ugly-head/390404/23 "2007-02-01T15:18:09Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] Maybe so, but that doesn’t make the OP a goat, see? [/QUOTE] ISWYDT 😉 ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaded-blue-collar-coffee-anti-elitism-rears-its-ugly-head/390404/24 "2007-02-01T15:19:41Z")
[QUOTE=miss elizabeth] Sorry to buck the trend, or whatever, but if this guy doesn’t like the goofy way they do things at Starbucks, maybe he should just get his coffee at the 7-11 like the OP said. [/QUOTE] The only times I ever go into a Starbucks is when I go with someone else. I’m not exactly dragged in against my will, but I go in because of friendship, not because I want to spend $5.72 on burnt-tasting “tall” smalls. I never make a scene, but I do sort of resent the pretentiousness of it all. The vanilla iced tea things rock, I must admit. Saturated fat was never so refreshing. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaded-blue-collar-coffee-anti-elitism-rears-its-ugly-head/390404/25 "2007-02-01T15:20:52Z")
[QUOTE=Malacandra] ISWYDT 😉 [/QUOTE] SHTSI. MAWHBM. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaded-blue-collar-coffee-anti-elitism-rears-its-ugly-head/390404/26 "2007-02-01T15:27:04Z")
Shudder!!! I know this is the pit and all, but could we not use that sort of language? I hesitate to type it. Folgers, gag! Probably the same sorts who would eat ketchup on a hot dog. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![guppy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7feea3/32.png) [@guppy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guppy)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaded-blue-collar-coffee-anti-elitism-rears-its-ugly-head/390404/27 "2007-02-01T15:29:06Z")
[QUOTE=CanvasShoes] Probably the same sorts who would eat ketchup on a hot dog. 😃 [/QUOTE] Mustard Nazi! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaded-blue-collar-coffee-anti-elitism-rears-its-ugly-head/390404/28 "2007-02-01T15:29:17Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] The only times I ever go into a Starbucks is when I go with someone else. I’m not exactly dragged in against my will, but I go in because of friendship, not because I want to spend $5.72 on burnt-tasting “tall” smalls. I never make a scene, but I do sort of resent the pretentiousness of it all. The vanilla iced tea things rock, I must admit. Saturated fat was never so refreshing. [/QUOTE] _Everyone_ resents the pretentiousness of it all. It’s stupid. But you don’t have to act like an ass. Complaining to the barista about the silliness of the coffee names at Starbucks is pointless. All it does is irritate the people around you and slow up the line. It isn’t novel or clever. Funnier people than you have made better snarky comments about the situation. No one heard this guy’s little speech and thought, “Hear hear! There goes a Real Man and a True American! I will swear off this elitist coffee forever.” Just shut up and take your coffee. If you want to hang out with blue collar types, drink coffee at the truck stop. It tastes like crap though. ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaded-blue-collar-coffee-anti-elitism-rears-its-ugly-head/390404/29 "2007-02-01T15:29:27Z")
He’s not going to get American (i.e., grown in the U.S. by god of A.) coffee at Starbucks anyway. As far as I can see from their menu, they don’t offer any Hawaiian coffees. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaded-blue-collar-coffee-anti-elitism-rears-its-ugly-head/390404/30 "2007-02-01T15:31:14Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] The only times I ever go into a Starbucks is when I go with someone else. I’m not exactly dragged in against my will, but I go in because of friendship, not because I want to spend $5.72 on burnt-tasting “tall” smalls. I never make a scene, but I do sort of resent the pretentiousness of it all. The vanilla iced tea things rock, I must admit. Saturated fat was never so refreshing. [/QUOTE] Isn’t a tall (small) cup of regular coffee like a dollar fifty at Starbucks? If you want some crazy espresso drink the price is going to go up, but not much. I regularly get tall mochas and that runs me a little under $3- like $2.75, I want to say. Hell, a big, huge “vanilla iced tea thing” shouldn’t run you more than $4. Dude, stop going to Starbucks in airports. $5.72? 😃😛 . That said, OP I can see where you’re irritated with his little speech, but why get so worked up about it? Like someone else said, maybe he usually goes to 7-11 and diners. Or maybe not. Maybe he just thought he could make a joke and make the person making his coffee laugh. He had no idea you lack a sense of humor. He can’t be blamed for that. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaded-blue-collar-coffee-anti-elitism-rears-its-ugly-head/390404/31 "2007-02-01T15:33:37Z")
[QUOTE=miss elizabeth] _Everyone_ resents the pretentiousness of it all. It’s stupid. But you don’t have to act like an ass. Complaining to the barista about the silliness of the coffee names at Starbucks is pointless. All it does is irritate the people around you and slow up the line. It isn’t novel or clever. Funnier people than you have made better snarky comments about the situation. No one heard this guy’s little speech and thought, “Hear hear! There goes a Real Man and a True American! I will swear off this elitist coffee forever.” Just shut up and take your coffee. If you want to hang out with blue collar types, drink coffee at the truck stop. It tastes like crap though. [/QUOTE] If we cannot take the piss against people whose job title is “barista”, the terrorists have surely won. Why do you hate America? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaded-blue-collar-coffee-anti-elitism-rears-its-ugly-head/390404/32 "2007-02-01T15:35:05Z")
Exactly. A coffee-jerk is a coffee jerk, pretentious name or not. ---
**Author:** ![Waverly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@Waverly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waverly)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaded-blue-collar-coffee-anti-elitism-rears-its-ugly-head/390404/33 "2007-02-01T15:35:42Z")
American Coffee, or Coffee Americana, is cappuccino only with hot milk replaced with hot water. In other words, watered down, tasteless drek. Anyway, that is how you make American Coffee. The only other thing you need to do is hum the Star Spangled Banner while you make it and put up a picture of Ronald Reagan behind the counter. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaded-blue-collar-coffee-anti-elitism-rears-its-ugly-head/390404/34 "2007-02-01T15:39:38Z")
[QUOTE=D\_Odds] Except if you ask for that around here. If you tell the guy at the deli regular coffee, that means milk and sugar. Regular coffee black is a contradiction. Different regions have different meanings of regular. [/QUOTE] Every place has its ‘thing’, and I’m no expert on ordering coffee. By me, the place to go is Dunkin’ Donuts. I don’t go anymore because I really can’t eat anymore donuts, yet they look & smell so damn good. Its crappy office-coffee w. Splenda and skim-plus for me, and technically, I shouldn’t even have that. But I do drink it out of a DD mug. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaded-blue-collar-coffee-anti-elitism-rears-its-ugly-head/390404/35 "2007-02-01T15:40:44Z")
[QUOTE=DiosaBellissima] \Isn’t a tall (small)\ [/QUOTE] A tall is a small? :rolleyes: Ive never been to Starbucks, is a wide a medium? ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaded-blue-collar-coffee-anti-elitism-rears-its-ugly-head/390404/36 "2007-02-01T15:47:36Z")
[QUOTE=miss elizabeth] Sorry to buck the trend, or whatever, but if this guy doesn’t like the goofy way they do things at Starbucks, maybe he should just get his coffee at the 7-11 like the OP said. Yeah, the sizes have weird names, and there’s all kinds of phony Italian stuff, but if you hate it, go somewhere else. Don’t act like a jerk to the guy behind the counter. [/QUOTE] Exactly. The stupidity of the guys actions lie in the following. 1: He was aparently ranting against the business because he foud their menu/atmosphere/clientele pretentious 2: He proceded to purchase his coffee there If it truly bugged him, subjecting the employees of the coffee shop to a sanctimonious mini-sermon is not the appropriate way to indicate he doesn’t like the shop’s business practices. Purchasing your coffee somewhere else is. The guy is taking advantage of a captive audience to make himself feel good about his oh-so important position on the fancy-schmancy coffee people get these days. I, briefly, was against the ‘gentrification’ of the coffee world. I’d walk into Starbucks and order “medium coffee.” And I was corrected more than once (rather, asked for clarification). Eventually I just kind of realised that, hey, I should order what’s on the menu, and refusing to say the word “venti” when I go into Starbucks did nothing but make it take longer to get what I wanted, and that the only point I was making was that I was either too cool or too stupid to actually order what they offered. It’s just like when folks choose to mispronounce or forget the names of politicians who they don’t like. It’s a little way to get a jab in under the guise of the subject being not worth the consideration of actually having his name remembered. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaded-blue-collar-coffee-anti-elitism-rears-its-ugly-head/390404/37 "2007-02-01T15:49:19Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] The only times I ever go into a Starbucks is when I go with someone else. I’m not exactly dragged in against my will, but I go in because of friendship, not because I want to spend $5.72 on burnt-tasting “tall” smalls. I never make a scene, but I do sort of resent the pretentiousness of it all. [/QUOTE] Well aren’t you just special. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaded-blue-collar-coffee-anti-elitism-rears-its-ugly-head/390404/38 "2007-02-01T15:53:01Z")
[QUOTE=Eonwe] Eventually I just kind of realised that, hey, I should order **what’s on the menu** , and refusing to say the word “venti” when I go into Starbucks did nothing but make it take longer to get what I wanted, and that the only point I was making was that I was either too cool or too stupid to actually order what they offered. [/QUOTE] They have the sizes on the menu there? At the Sub Place in Question they don’t have the sizes named _nor_ length-delineated, so you have to magically know that they only have mediums and larges that are 8 inches and , (I forget the other size). Oh, and that they take all major credit cards when there isn’t a sign on the doorway, and that you’re supposed to sit down while your sub is being prepared (no other place does this at all so this is one of the more egregious “hey, we’re not Subway” dealies.) Good business model: making your customers look like fools. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaded-blue-collar-coffee-anti-elitism-rears-its-ugly-head/390404/39 "2007-02-01T16:00:39Z")
[QUOTE=lisacurl] He’s not going to get American (i.e., grown in the U.S. by god of A.) coffee at Starbucks anyway. As far as I can see from their menu, they don’t offer any Hawaiian coffees. [/QUOTE] When my wife and I were on our honeymoon, we got hooked on Puerto Rican coffee. Sadly, it is expensive and quite hard to find. Beats Starbucks any day of the week. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2007, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaded-blue-collar-coffee-anti-elitism-rears-its-ugly-head/390404/40 "2007-02-01T16:03:10Z")
As long as I can order a “medium black no sugar” and get what I want, I can ignore whatever silly name they put on the menu. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaded-blue-collar-coffee-anti-elitism-rears-its-ugly-head/390404.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jaded-blue-collar-coffee-anti-elitism-rears-its-ugly-head/390404.md?page=3)