As the global economy faces a rather unsettling future, you'd think everyone would be tightening their belts by now. The price of oil continues to rise much to our dismay which means the rich are only getting more richer while the rest of us have to put up with dishing more for rice, fuel and flour just to name a few.
Just to add to the gloomy outlook, Starbucks recently announced it was going to close 600 stores in the US. For a country as big as the US, 600 seems small considering how there's practically a Starbucks store within a couple of hundred yards within each other! Just take New York City as an example. I recall seeing one Starbucks store after another or within a block of each other, either as a stand-alone store or a store inside, say Barnes and Noble. Basically if there's a long queue in one store or fully-packed, don't fret 'cos all one has to do is walk a hundred yards and voila! another Starbucks store. However for a well-known company, closure shouldn't be an option unless the company is in serious trouble or a takeover has been proposed. What's that saying...too much of a good thing is never a good thing? Having said that, we shouldn't really be bothered too much with this - Starbucks or no Starbucks, our locals will still pick the C.A Mohammads, Happy Deans and Coffeezones that have grown to be a staple in our lives.
On the other hand, if you're wondering what the rich are getting up to with all the money piling up, the latest craze to hit the Middle East is prestigious license plate numbers. How 'nice' it must feel to be able to throw away $millions for a license tag simply sporting "1" ..while the rest of us simple folk are slogging away just to earn and save for the future, or worst case scenario, simply trying to get by..
Just to add to the gloomy outlook, Starbucks recently announced it was going to close 600 stores in the US. For a country as big as the US, 600 seems small considering how there's practically a Starbucks store within a couple of hundred yards within each other! Just take New York City as an example. I recall seeing one Starbucks store after another or within a block of each other, either as a stand-alone store or a store inside, say Barnes and Noble. Basically if there's a long queue in one store or fully-packed, don't fret 'cos all one has to do is walk a hundred yards and voila! another Starbucks store. However for a well-known company, closure shouldn't be an option unless the company is in serious trouble or a takeover has been proposed. What's that saying...too much of a good thing is never a good thing? Having said that, we shouldn't really be bothered too much with this - Starbucks or no Starbucks, our locals will still pick the C.A Mohammads, Happy Deans and Coffeezones that have grown to be a staple in our lives.
On the other hand, if you're wondering what the rich are getting up to with all the money piling up, the latest craze to hit the Middle East is prestigious license plate numbers. How 'nice' it must feel to be able to throw away $millions for a license tag simply sporting "1" ..while the rest of us simple folk are slogging away just to earn and save for the future, or worst case scenario, simply trying to get by..
$14 million for this!?!*SIGH*
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