Sleeveless in Seattle

"In order to support one of Starbucks's guiding principles and protect our environment we will provide sleeves for beverages on request only."

I have decided to boycott Starbucks. This was no easy decision to make. A non-coffee drinker, I had to make a special effort to become addicted to extra hot grande mochas (with whip). Developing a taste for the chocolate cream cheese muffin or chocolate croissant I frequently choose to accompany the mocha required no extra effort at all.

But imagine you are my physician. Imagine you are aware that 40 million Americans are pre-diabetic and diabetes is about to become the largest health risk to lethargic Americans in decades, indeed that we are the first generation ever to have worse health than our parents. Then I come to you with cholesterol numbers off the chart, in excess of 250. The little issue of a daily mocha is broached.

"Careful, the beverage you're about to enjoy is extremely hot."

Let's bring this dirty little addiction out into the light. The grande mocha alone contains 400 calories (200 from fat), 22 fat grams and 33 grams of sugar. Combined with the pastry, we're talking about a total of 850 calories, 46 grams of fat, and 64 grams of sugar. Daily. For breakfast. That's before the cheeseburger and fries for lunch at McDonald's.

Now is your advice to cut back? Switch to non-fat milk? Try "no whip?" Order a tall instead of a grande? Skip the pastry? Cut back to every other day?

Or do you advise me to never ever ever set foot in a Starbucks or McDonald's again as long as I live which if I am lucky will be a week beyond next Thursday?

"This insulating sleeve is made from 60% post-consumer recycled fiber and uses approximately 45% less material than a second paper cup. Intended for single use only."

Do you suppose I am the only customer at Starbucks making unwise beverage and pastry selections? Or do you imagine that millions of other customers like myself are surrendering to death by espresso?

I have my own theories about how Starbucks is changing the future of our country. They have become so ubiquitous—another one pops up in our neighborhood every six months at least—that like McDonald's before them they are making permanent changes to our lifestyles. One can research the rise and fall of various convenience food markets in this country—smoothies, gourmet cookies, frozen yogurts, ice cream, etc.—but Starbucks, I am convinced, is here to stay. Just watch how the clientele gets younger and younger: first high schoolers, then middle schoolers, youngsters accompanying their parents; hell, every one of my boys knows where to find at least five Starbucks locations and they each have their favorite beverage. That's pretty damned frightening, I think.

And who are the baristas? There was barely such a job twenty years ago; yet one day soon we'll hear the statistic telling us that by the year 20XX, one in every ten Americans will have worked at one time at Starbucks. We are creating a generation of educated espresso snobs. These kids will never go back to a cup of black coffee from a diner, 7-11, or a vending machine for godsakes. They will have the skill for creating espresso drinks, the desire to have their drinks suited to their taste, and the expectation that an espresso drink is a necessary part of their lifestyle.

I think it's great that Starbucks is "committed to a role of environmental leadership in all facets of (their) business." And if that means, among other things, eliminating beverage sleeves except upon request, then fine. But the ways they are effecting us is not only environmental. Watch what happens to our health and that of our children as we continue to consume their high calorie, sugar-laden products over the next decade.

Except for me. Because I already had my wakeup call and have decided to forego my daily trip to Starbucks.

...hmmm, except maybe on Sundays?