STARBUCKS IS OPEN!!

I guarantee half of the readers of this Chatterbox just went nuts. Coffee is the second most highly traded commodity in the world only behind oil, and for good reason: There is nothing more invigorating and refreshing than a piping hot cup o’ joe.

As college students, we have all come to appreciate the caffeinated goodness of coffee, energy drinks, what have you. We can all identify dozens of papers and late-night cram sessions that never would have been without a cup of coffee close at hand. And 8am classes would be all but vacant without the help of Juan Valdez and his mule.

Still, there are a few sour grapes out there, the small, decaffeinated minority. ‘It tastes funny,’ they whine. Yeah, well alcohol tastes funny to people too, I don’t hear anyone complaining then.

At the end of the day, it is hard to object with the drawing power of a well-brewed Grande. There is a feeling you get when holding a cup of coffee and a copy of the paper (preferably the Statesman), walking to class. A sense of sophistication, perhaps drawn from images of mom and dad leaving the house before you left for school doing the same thing.

And then there is the worldly quality of coffee. It was discovered in the heart of Africa, perfected by the European elite, and now produced largely in South America and South East Asia, before finally being consumed by Americans in record-and energetic-numbers.

No wonder everyone can’t wait until the Starbucks opens.