Why We Can't Stop Thinking About Starbucks

What is it about Starbucks? The baristas often mangle names and orders, while tables are usually occupied with laptop campers who leave their trash all over the place for the next customer to clean up. Still, the lines are as long as ever. What gives?

It's a question AdAge tries to answer, and just may have succeeded:

Caffeine addiction aside, we can't stop thinking about Starbucks because Starbucks is us. Recession-battered, weary, worse for the wear -- always having to do more with less. As much as we might laugh and groan at the chain's embattled baristas, we see ourselves in them. After all, much of the fabled "recovery" of the U.S. economy has been about just settling: adjusting to reduced expectations and trying not to be too bitter about it.

For some serious name-mangling examples, check out the Starbucks Alter Ego.

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