Jay GreesonI have bought my last cup, bag or anything related to Starbucks.
Brew on that, you hypocritical bunch of overpriced coffee hucksters.
Starting in September, Starbucks announced that it will no longer sell newspapers because of "changing customer behavior." And the company said too many people were reading the papers without paying for them.
OK. What about your customers' changing behavior of not wanting to pay $6 for a cup of coffee?
And you may hate every word I write, or you may love it. You may think the paper is too this or too that.
But I can guarantee you this: America needs newspapers way more than it needs $6 cups of coffee.
I guess from now on, it will be BYON (Bring Your Own Newspaper) at Starbucks. As for me, I'll have a cup of Dunkin' coffee.
Good riddance, Starbucks.
Trending developments
Yes, newspaper circulation numbers for the print product are down. That's hardly breaking news. Still, newspapers are reaching more people than ever before. Quality work by professional journalists is seen in print and on every kind of electronic device - desktop, laptop, tablet, mobile phone.
It appears the next tug of war for the eyes and times of the American people will be at the crossroads of your TV/cable provider.
Netflix and Amazon started the move to the streaming concepts that are growing ever-more popular.
In the next year to 18 months, Disney - and all the entertainment properties it controls - will have its version as well as HBO and a slew of others.
Here's a wild prediction: Before you know it, the folks who provide your internet will offer your cable package for next to nothing. Not unlike how you can get a free landline these days.
(Remember the days of long-distance bills? Heck, remember the days of when call-waiting was a game-changer? Yeah, me too.)
Bless her heart
We have a long-standing tradition that if you start or end a statement - regardless of how inflammatory or accusatory - with "bless her heart," you almost always get a get-out-trouble-free card.
Sure, in this day and age of PC and social media morality mobs, it's no longer universal. But it's close.
It's the Michael Jordan of the caveats for sure. Followed closely by, "With all due respect," "No offense intended" and "Don't be mad but," in terms of qualifiers.
Want to know what is dead-last in this day and age? The server at a Buffalo Wild Wings in Texas who started a conversation with a customer "Don't take this racially but ... "
Egad.
Yes, the server was fired. Bless her heart.
Saturday stars
I spend a lot of my spare time coaching youth athletics.
It's a true pleasure, and without question, I get more from it than the players do .
Last weekend at a state baseball all-star tournament, our collection of 8-year-olds reminded of me the great life lesson that enjoying the journey is every bit as important as embracing the finish. Even in sports.
Luke, Cooper, Silas, Will, Ham, Mason B., Madeline Ray, Mason C., J.T., Forbes, Bryan and Clark - thank you for all your effort and the always-important knowledge that getting better is every bit as much fun as getting rewarded.
As a team, they deserved a better finish - don't we all? - but as individuals, their class and effort were never in question.
I will appreciate each of you more than you great kids will know.
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com.