by Deborah Messner

Created on: July 09, 2008   Last Updated: August 05, 2011

I admit it. I'm a Starbucks junkie. I am also a very practical person. And that leaves me, as well as many other people, in a bad situation at the moment. With the announcement that Starbucks will be closing the doors of 600 of its locations, and the sudden debates over the company and its ethics as a whole, Americans are suddenly left with some interesting questions. Is the Starbucks brand really worth the cost? In the middle of increasing prices for just about everything associated with our daily lives (gasoline, food, electricity, natural gas, etc.), will buying a $3+ cup of coffee really be worth it for the average American?

I haven't always been addicted to coffee. Growing up, I got up every morning to the smell of Maxwell House coffee brewing in the kitchen. My parents love the stuff. While I have always loved the smell of coffee in the morning, I initially had no desire to actually drink any myself. My coffee stint began in 1998 or so, when I was working two jobs to support my horse showing habit, and often working two shifts per day and riding my horses at night. There was a little gourmet coffee shop down the hall, and one day I decided to give in and try their Raspberry blend. I was hooked. This was long before I even knew Starbucks Coffee existed.

Over the years, my coffee habits have changed. I can go for months without it, then suddenly need three cups a day or I think the world is going to end. A few years ago a close friend of mine got a management job at the local Starbucks, and started bringing some home to me after work (she lives across the street). Every taste test was a different exotic blend, or a combination of flavors she had tried and liked, and wanted my opinion. Soon I was completely addicted to the likes of Caramel Macciatos (which just sounds cool to say), Mocha Frappucinos and Caramel Frappucinos with extra shots of Espresso and extra Caramel Syrup. Birthday and Christmas presents often include Starbucks gift cards, because everyone is aware that it's a gift I'll definitely use. Recently, another close friend started working at the same Starbucks, which hasn't helped with my desire to slow down the habit.

It seemed to me like Starbucks, at least here on the East Coast, weren't there at all one day, and suddenly they were everywhere the next. When I would visit friends and family and ask where their local Starbucks was, I would look at them like they were aliens if they said "I don't know" or "We don't have one of those". Weren't

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