Starbucks Corporation

156 Countries Sing Together for the Starbucks Love Project including Qatar, Philippines, and all other counties. Have a great Friday morning!

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Intlxpatr had an interesting blog post in response to Sarmad Qazi's article in the Gulf Times on ‘Hidden charges’ at restaurants.

She wrote:

When I was new to Qatar, and thrilled to find my hometown Starbucks going great guns here, I asked “Where is the tip jar?”

Every Starbucks has a tip jar. Everywhere. Baristas don’t get paid that much; you always tip. Often they are young people stretching to pay the rent while they go to school, or trying to raise a child as a single parent. A tip is a way to allow God to redistribute income in the world; you let it go freely and He sends it where it should go.

The barista reached down and pulled out a jar, but did not look encouraging.

“Why is it down there?” I asked, naively.

“We don’t get these monies,” the barista said. “The Management takes everything.”

So I started asking at every Starbucks, and the answer was always the same. The workers don’t get the tips. Management takes everything....

When I visited another Doha restaurant (an international chain) which charged a 10% automatic service charge, I asked the waiter if the money went to him. He replied saying "some of it...but the store keeps most of it".

Worse than that though, was our breakfast at a waffle/pancake/chocolate shop in Landmark. We found a long piece of hair in our crepe! The waitress took it away and gave us a new dish. Now in most places, they'd give you the meal for free after that. Do you know what they did? They kept an automatic service charge (15% I think) on the bill! Can you imagine? Serving food with hair in it and then having the audacity to make us pay for "service". When I asked the waitress she said "well, we brought you a new one". I was shocked so called the manager. He said "it's our policy to have a service charge". After telling him that a service charge was for service and he should actually be ashamed of his service he agreed to remove the service charge.

That really isn't cool! Not only are the waiters being short changed, but any incentive to provide great service is being squeezed out of them. If they received tips, surely they'd work on providing better service.

What has your experience been?

50 things that changed people's lives in a decade

NEW YORK: Was it only a decade ago that a blackberry was a mere warm season fruit? That green was, well, a color, and reality TV was that one show sandwiched between music videos on MTV?

There were, of course, huge political and social upheavals that roiled the world in the past decade, but there also were the gradual lifestyle changes that people do not always notice when they are happening; kind of like watching a child grow older. Here is an alphabetical look at 50 things that changed our lives since the beginning of the millennium:

AIRPORTS: Remember when you did not have to take off your shoes before getting on a plane? Remember when you could bring a bottled drink on board? Political terror changed all that.

I just finished my theory after so many months of coming and going to Villagio, Citi Center and other mall that has coffe shop like Starbucks, Coffee Bean, etc. I concluded that drinking coffee can lead to blindness because a NO SMOKING sign are posted all over the place but still they do smoke, so I urge everyone to stop drinking coffee before its too late, when you are already blind...

Well here it is..... It is the only place on earth where......

1. Every street has a basketball court.

2. Even doctors, lawyers and engineers are unemployed.

3. Doctors study to become nurses for employment abroad.

4. Students pay more money than they will earn afterwards.

5. School is considered the second home and the mall considered the third.

6. Call-center employees earn more money than teachers and nurses.

7. Everything can be forged.

8. Starbucks coffee is more expensive than gas.

9. Driving 4 kms can take as much as four hours.

10. Flyovers bring you from the freeway to the side streets.

11. Crossing the street involves running for your dear life.

12. The personal computer is mainly used for games and Friendster.

You know you've been in the Far East too long when.....
1. You're at an expensive western restaurant and don't even notice the guy at the next table yelling into his cell phone
2. You enjoy karaoke
3. You walk backwards in the park listening to a transistor radio
4. The China Daily is your source for hard hitting, fast breaking, investigative journalism
5. You smoke in crowded elevators.
6. All white people look the same to you
7. You like the smell of the bus.
8. You find state-employed retail staff helpful, knowledgeable and friendly
9. You no longer need tissues to blow your nose
10. You find western toilets uncomfortable
11. You throw your used toilet paper in the basket (as a courtesy to the next person)

Let's talk about Breasts!

Can exercises like push-up really make you breasts bigger and firmer?
They won't affect your actual breasts, which don't contain muscle.
The only thing that make women's breast significantly bigger, implants aside, are weight gain and pregnancy.
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Is there anything than can help prevent premature sagging?
Yes, How low you'll someday go (or won't) is largely determined by genes.
You can slow down the process by avoiding yo-yo weight gain and loss. It can stress and stretch breast ligaments, our natural support system.
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Does drinking coffee really make breasts smaller?
Until there's further evidence, you won't see Starbucks slapping a warning: May Cause Breast Reduction label on lattes.
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Have you not found yourself wanting to cuss the slow Starbucks barista, or pound your fist when the internet is down, or glare at the driver who cut your line? Why are we so impatient, angry, and hostile? With the grind of the economy and the pressure to stay afloat, not to mention the hot summer sun, it’s safe to say most of us have a shorter fuse these days. As goes the Zen proverb, “Avoid one moment of anger, and you will avoid 100 days of sorrow."

Winners:

1) Dan Antopolski - "Hedgehogs - why can't they just share the hedge?"

• 2) Paddy Lennox - "I was watching the London Marathon and saw one runner dressed as a chicken and another runner dressed as an egg. I thought: 'This could be interesting'."

• 3) Sarah Millican - "I had my boobs measured and bought a new bra. Now I call them Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes because they're up where they belong."

• 4) Zoe Lyons - "I went on a girls' night out recently. The invitation said 'dress to kill'. I went as Rose West."

• 5) Jack Whitehall - "I'm sure wherever my dad is; he's looking down on us. He's not dead, just very condescending."