Globilasation and Starbucks
As I have spent the last two weeks in Switzerland and the UK respectively I have been considering Europe as a whole. The attractors and the detractors are quite interesting, and things that I had not really considered having lived only in developing nations the last 9 years.
While in London, and buying a coffee in Starbucks, I had the sudden realization that I had never been in a Starbucks before. Now I have some friends who make this habit, and just don't do it, others who love Starbucks, and can't live without it. I myself have never really thought about it because I have not lived anywhere that there was a Starbucks close by. I was even trying to remember if there was one in Michigan where I lived, but I realized that if there was I wouldn't have known because I just didn't drink coffee back then. I realized standing in line looking at the mystical coffee choices, that I didn't even know how the system of ordering and receiving a coffee works. I even ended up taking someone else's coffee and profusely apologizing for the mix up, jut not being able to say, ahh sorry this is the first time I've ever been in Starbucks, and I didn't know how it works.
In of itself this realization doesn't really mean anything, but when I put it into the context of globalisation I see it differently. I have always heard of Starbucks, I even remember mentally making note of it when it was a local Seattle chain that was beginning to expand... How many years ago was that? The thing that gets me is that even if you haven't even been in a Starbucks you know what it is, you recognize the branding, and some people will even view a Starbucks stop as a necessity. We could even expand this concept to McDonalds, Burger King, and clothing chains around the world.
Strangely enough I have lived in two countries in the world that do not have Starbucks - a rarity in itself. Even stranger Uzbekistan does not even have a McDonalds - and we thought they were everywhere! I don't miss Starbucks, I don't need it, nor will I necessarily consider that my next trip to London will include the must of a Starbucks visit. I just acknowledge its existence. In some ways though I think of the tree of the woods in this context also.
But this realization made me consider many other things during my trips. Basel was an amazingly quite city fit out for people of all sorts - public transportation being accessible for even those with disabilities - which in Latvia and Tashkent is not a consideration. People in stores were friendly and customer service oriented. Green is key - no plastic bags available and if you don't have your own bag, well you will just have to carry your purchases in your hands... Restaurants of all types with people of all colors, ethnic identities and all able to speak the local languages - all three plus English!
London on the other hand shocked me with its lack of green. I walked into the Marks and Spencers food store looking for lunch boxes and found that every section of the supermarket carried only processed food. Every vegetable was packed in a plastic bag for sale rather than being separate in bins. Plastic bottles everywhere, and no recyling points for varying trash.
More strangely was the sense that shopping was what it was all about. I haven't lived in a society in a while where the act of shopping was just to have more, not what you actually needed for the season with care and concern for your spending.
In this sense I crave shopping at the bazaars in Uzbekistan for seasonally grown fruits and vegetables rather than those that are brought in from overseas in the rest of Europe. Every piece of fruit and vegetable I have tasted since arrival does not have the flavorful taste that can only come from sun warmed produce. At what point will we realize that food produced locally and without plastic containers is so much healthier for all of us!?
Yet one of the things that I loved in both places was the societal acceptance of diversity. Latvia is so very rascist that I just don't understand how people can stand to look at themselves in the mirror. The mistreatment of homosexuals is one thing that I just can't stand. In Basel and London it was so refreshing to see gay couples being able to walk together openly holding hands. At my conferences gay colleagues were openly able to discuss relationships, and most importantly be accepted for who they are in their work places without bringing into an issue of employment, rather than having to hide an integral part of their personalities. It was refreshing after living in Latvia where pride is protested against yearly, and Uzbekistan where homosexuality is illegal.
As I consider these items I also consider what is most important for my next move in the future. I don't think I yet know...
While in London, and buying a coffee in Starbucks, I had the sudden realization that I had never been in a Starbucks before. Now I have some friends who make this habit, and just don't do it, others who love Starbucks, and can't live without it. I myself have never really thought about it because I have not lived anywhere that there was a Starbucks close by. I was even trying to remember if there was one in Michigan where I lived, but I realized that if there was I wouldn't have known because I just didn't drink coffee back then. I realized standing in line looking at the mystical coffee choices, that I didn't even know how the system of ordering and receiving a coffee works. I even ended up taking someone else's coffee and profusely apologizing for the mix up, jut not being able to say, ahh sorry this is the first time I've ever been in Starbucks, and I didn't know how it works.
In of itself this realization doesn't really mean anything, but when I put it into the context of globalisation I see it differently. I have always heard of Starbucks, I even remember mentally making note of it when it was a local Seattle chain that was beginning to expand... How many years ago was that? The thing that gets me is that even if you haven't even been in a Starbucks you know what it is, you recognize the branding, and some people will even view a Starbucks stop as a necessity. We could even expand this concept to McDonalds, Burger King, and clothing chains around the world.
Strangely enough I have lived in two countries in the world that do not have Starbucks - a rarity in itself. Even stranger Uzbekistan does not even have a McDonalds - and we thought they were everywhere! I don't miss Starbucks, I don't need it, nor will I necessarily consider that my next trip to London will include the must of a Starbucks visit. I just acknowledge its existence. In some ways though I think of the tree of the woods in this context also.
But this realization made me consider many other things during my trips. Basel was an amazingly quite city fit out for people of all sorts - public transportation being accessible for even those with disabilities - which in Latvia and Tashkent is not a consideration. People in stores were friendly and customer service oriented. Green is key - no plastic bags available and if you don't have your own bag, well you will just have to carry your purchases in your hands... Restaurants of all types with people of all colors, ethnic identities and all able to speak the local languages - all three plus English!
London on the other hand shocked me with its lack of green. I walked into the Marks and Spencers food store looking for lunch boxes and found that every section of the supermarket carried only processed food. Every vegetable was packed in a plastic bag for sale rather than being separate in bins. Plastic bottles everywhere, and no recyling points for varying trash.
More strangely was the sense that shopping was what it was all about. I haven't lived in a society in a while where the act of shopping was just to have more, not what you actually needed for the season with care and concern for your spending.
In this sense I crave shopping at the bazaars in Uzbekistan for seasonally grown fruits and vegetables rather than those that are brought in from overseas in the rest of Europe. Every piece of fruit and vegetable I have tasted since arrival does not have the flavorful taste that can only come from sun warmed produce. At what point will we realize that food produced locally and without plastic containers is so much healthier for all of us!?
Yet one of the things that I loved in both places was the societal acceptance of diversity. Latvia is so very rascist that I just don't understand how people can stand to look at themselves in the mirror. The mistreatment of homosexuals is one thing that I just can't stand. In Basel and London it was so refreshing to see gay couples being able to walk together openly holding hands. At my conferences gay colleagues were openly able to discuss relationships, and most importantly be accepted for who they are in their work places without bringing into an issue of employment, rather than having to hide an integral part of their personalities. It was refreshing after living in Latvia where pride is protested against yearly, and Uzbekistan where homosexuality is illegal.
As I consider these items I also consider what is most important for my next move in the future. I don't think I yet know...
Comments
Michigan does have Starbucks- the first ones were in Barnes and Nobles bookstores way back when, but now they have free standing ones and they also find themselves in the front of other shopping places (Target, etc). While I enjoy a coffee now and then, they certainly aren't on my list of "necessity". In China we frequented them, because you could trust a certain standard of coffee, which could not be trusted elsewhere... we don't have Starbucks or McDonalds in Angola though...
Yes I am sure that Starbucks is now in Michigan. When I left 10 years ago, though there wasn't a Starbucks where I was living - and I wouldn't have frequented them if there were, because I didn't drink coffee way back then.