Woohoo! I get a raise this year, of about 16%, and the all-staff meeting that we have this week isn't "we suck, you're all fired," it's "look how awesome we are, these are the awards we've received this year."
And now that I'm no longer dreading the rest of this week, I can clarify that a) I have no problem with people liking Starbucks. At the end of the day, coffee is just an efficient method of caffeine transfer for me. Unless it's the weekend, then I care about the taste, and even then, I do like Starbucks' french roast, I just prefer a good Kona blend. b) No, I don't begrudge people who actually care about fair-trade coffee being important. I agree that it's a worthy cause. c) No, I didn't perceive that anyone here, on Halforums was being judgmental toward my coffee drinking choice or my self-worth because I don't always do my best to insure that my coffee is fair-trade; I was commenting about the actual physical people that I frequently run into on the streets of the greater Seattle-Tacoma metroplex, i.e. Coffee-Hipster-Mecca-Jr. (Second only, regionally, to Portland). d) By all means, if you like Starbucks, get on out there and enjoy your Starbucks. After all, while I can't quantify exactly what effect Starbucks has had on my life, I'm sure it would be poorer if Starbucks didn't exist; being that I regularly have to commute through their HQ's city an' all. And let's face it, there are plenty of places in this country where Starbucks is the best coffee available.
My point was never meant to be, oh man fade, your life must really suck if you're stuck having Starbucks as your "good" coffee; it was meant to be a) a joke and b) well... a bit of a snide joke.