So I was just at Starbucks, and this woman next to me asks if the $100

bill lying at our feet is mine. At first I thought it was a one, as unaccustomed as I am to seeing $100 bills, and checked my nearly barren wallet, realized that it was indeed a hundred and so in no way could it be mine.

We asked the fellow she was with and he shrugged and shook his head. We finally found a guy who had just walked away from the cash register, and he checked his wallet and looked ever so relieved to be getting his $100 back.

I think it is quite gratifying that in this day of hard economic times, somebody didn't just snatch it up and pocket it. I'm sure the guy appreciated getting it back.

(BTW, I don't go to Starbucks hardly ever, but my coffeemaker stuff was all in the dishwasher which was running and the doggie needed an outing anyway.)

:rofl:

But at least you'd be supporting a company with a good buyblue rating!

I'm confused

.. but 100 bux, now that is really nice.

People are basically honest.

Just the evil ones are in office and in the media.

Why is it that evil corrupt people always lead nations? Was it a flip of a coin by the 'all mighty'. Was the situation 'task 2234875: who leads nations? Crap..I'll flip a coin. Ok, evil corrupt people it is"...

that no matter how hard Bushco tries to undermine the basic structure of humanity, it still flourishes.

many posts about negative things.

It lifted my day and I thought I'd share.

walking towards me a few hundred feet away. A dollar bill flapped from the ground between us--much more close to me and even closer to what appeared to be a homeless (or at least down and out) student type. Hume literally ups his pace to grab it, pocketing it before either I or the "student" could even react. LOL

Cheap piece of shit...

BTW, why do you feel you need to apologize for going to Starbucks? We all need a little splurge now and then and the last I checked they do right by their employees. Not a perfect business by any means, but much better than most. And, I believe they are BLUE.

All of their campaign cash went blue.

I'm still not comfortable with their business model though.

I was thinking that somebody would jump me on patronizing Starbucks.

Your reward for kindness will be twice that just for being a good guy.

Star Wars movie, I had one of my kid's friends with me. We were waiting for my son & his father who is invariably insufferably late for everything and who I've spent far too much time waiting for over the past 16 years (one time he was over 48 hours late without placing a phone call). We were near the line waiting for them to show with minutes left before the film started. Miraculously, they pulled up so I got in line and asked my kid's friend to run out to the parking lot to verify that they still wanted to go to the 12 o'clock show. I pulled all of the money out of my wallet and watched what was going on in the parking lot. My kid's friend came back and said, "yes they want to go to this showing.' Then another kid behind me tapped on my shoulder holding a twenty dollar bill saying, "excuse me is this yours?"

It was only twenty bucks but it warmed my heart to know that at least Star Wars fans still have ethics and principles.

Sad that it has come to the point where we are surprised and duly impressed by honesty and ethical behavior.

Wish it wasn't such a rarity.

I have a wallet with a money clip on it. Last summer I was in the habit of going to the local grocery store after my early morning run. (I drove to the place where I ran...I know, I know). Not once, but two times I left my wallet, along with a not insubsantial amount of cash on the top of the cart after I loaded my groceries. (My running shorts did not have pockets, so I tended to leave the wallet on the little ledge just next to the handle on the cart). On both occasions I detected that my wallet was missing and called the store, and on both occasions some good samaritan took the wallet back to the store, fully intact. I don't think that I live in an area that has more than it's share of good people, I just believe people are good at heart.

:hi:

Starbucks Corporation
Rating: Dark Blue - 100 %
BuyBlue.org's Position:
(also Seattle's Best Coffee, Torrefazione Italia)

Starbucks currently has a 100% BuyBlue rating due to its executives' political contributions for the 2003-2004 election cycle. During that election cycle, every Starbucks executive whose contributions we researched on the Federal Elections Commission site contributed to a Democratic candidate.

Company Bio:
(source: hoovers.com)

Wake up and smell the coffee -- Starbucks is everywhere. The world's #1 specialty coffee retailer, Starbucks operates and licenses more than 8,500 coffee shops in more than 30 countries. The shops offer coffee drinks and food items, as well as beans, coffee accessories, teas, and CDs. Starbucks operates more than 5,200 of its shops in five countries (mostly in the US), while licensees operate more than 2,800 units (primarily in shopping centers and airports). The company also owns and franchises the Seattle's Best Coffee and Torrefazione Italia chains in the US (more than 100 shops). In addition, Starbucks markets its coffee through grocery stores and licenses its brand for other food and beverage products.

2003-2004 Election Cycle Contribution Statistics
Total Spent: $39,300.00

100% to Democratic Party candidates
0% to Republican Party candidates
0% to Other candidates

This company is not associated with any Political Action Committees.

More:
http://www.buyblue.org/detail.php?corpId=1

For Immediate Release

Fair Trade Leader Praises Starbucks' Step Toward More Equitable Purchasing Model
Urges Deeper Commitment to Small Farmers

Canton, MA. — April 14, 2000 — The country's leading fair trade coffee company praised Starbucks for its recent announcement of intent to purchase a small portion of its coffee under certified fair trade terms. Massachusetts-based Equal Exchange pioneered the fair trade coffee movement in the United States in 1986 and to date remains the largest and only company to purchase 100% of its coffee from small farmer cooperatives under internationally recognized fair trade criteria.

"We are pleased to see Starbucks join the growing number of coffee roasters considering fair trade," said Rob Everts, co-director of Equal Exchange. "However, the commitment Starbucks has made to small farmers appears quite limited and we encourage them purchase a more meaningful portion of their coffee under fair trade terms. With their volume, Starbucks could make a world of difference in the lives of thousands of peasant farmers," Everts added.

According to published reports, Starbucks' commitment to fair trade is for one year pending consumer reaction. Furthermore, its fair trade coffee will only be available in packages, a small percentage of the company's overall coffee sales. It will not be available by the cup in their 2,300 stores.

"Our own growth over the past ten years shows consumers do support fair trade," said Everts. "What we would like to see from Starbucks - even if it meant losing some of our own customers - is a corporate commitment to small farmers."

Several years after committing to a code of conduct for their plantation suppliers in Guatemala, Starbucks has yet to fully comply. Likewise, publicity surrounding the company's foray into more environmental-friendly shade grown coffee greatly surpassed the scale of its purchases. It is this limited follow-through that has Equal Exchange concerned about Starbucks' commitment to small farmers.

Fair trade is a practice that incorporates the welfare of peasant coffee farmers into the relationship between producers and importers, roasters and consumers. Criteria include: purchasing directly from small farmer cooperatives only; guaranteeing a minimum price of $1.26 per pound ($1.41 for organic); offering pre-harvest financing; and entering into long term relationships with trading partners.

Over the course of its fourteen years in business, Equal Exchange, a worker-owned cooperative, has paid out over $1 million in above market "premiums" to its coop partners. Last year Equal Exchange purchased 1.3 million pounds of fair trade coffee from 15 cooperatives in 9 countries. The company's sales were $6.3 million.

Last November, Business Ethics magazine named Equal Exchange one of the most ethical businesses in the country for its "path-breaking approach to fair trade, defining supplier welfare as part of business success."

##

More:
http://www.equalexchange.com/fair-trade-leader-praises-starbucks-step-toward-more-equitable-purchasing-model

I guess I'd forgotten that they're a blue co.
(But they are pricey.)

All things being equal, I'd rather spend at a blue comapny (even if would be less often) than at a red one.

It's a trick my grandma taught me.

She never bought sugar, sweet and low, soap or towels in her whole life.