false 427475 14 In his fifties, Michael Gates Gill had it all: a big house in the suburbs, a loving family, and a top job at an ad agency with a six-figure salary. By the time he turned sixty, he had lost everything except his Ivy League education and his sense of entitlement. First, he was downsized at work. Next, an affair ended his twenty-year marriage. Then, he was diagnosed with a slow-growing brain tumor, prognosis undetermined. Around the same time, his girlfriend gave birth to a son. Gill had no money, no health insurance, and no prospects. <BR><BR> One day as Gill sat in a Manhattan Starbucks with his last affordable luxury&#151;a latté&#151;brooding about his misfortune and quickly dwindling list of options, a 28-year-old Starbucks manager named Crystal Thompson approached him, half joking, to offer him a job. With nothing to lose, he took it, and went from drinking coffee in a Brooks Brothers suit to serving it in a green uniform. For the first time in his life, Gill was a minority--the only older white guy working with a team of young African-Americans. He was forced to acknowledge his ingrained prejudices and admit to himself that, far from being beneath him, his new job was hard. And his younger coworkers, despite having half the education and twice the personal difficulties he'd ever faced, were running circles around him. <BR><BR> The other baristas treated Gill with respect and kindness despite his differences, and he began to feel a new emotion: gratitude. Crossing over the Starbucks bar was the beginning of a dramatic transformation that cracked his world wide open. When all of his defenses and the armor of entitlement had been stripped away, a humbler, happier and gentler man remained. One that everyone, especially Michael's kids, liked a lot better. <BR><BR> The backdrop to Gill's story is a nearly universal cultural phenomenon: the Starbucks experience. In <I>How Starbucks Saved My Life</I>, we step behind the counter of one of the world's best-known companies and discover how it all really works, who the baristas are and what they love (and hate) about their jobs. Inside Starbucks, as Crystal and Mike's friendship grows, we see what wonders can happen when we reach out across race, class, and age divisions to help a fellow human being. 2755283 20 9 2007 How Starbucks Saved My Life: A Son of Privilege Learns to Live Like Everyone Else total:1631|5:184|4:456|3:644|2:256|1:91| 1631 5279 2508 606 1 9 false false Wed Sep 03 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 18 11:26:01 -0700 2008 Tue Oct 07 06:56:50 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 6 true false Mon Mar 03 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 10 10:30:11 -0800 2008 Fri Mar 07 21:36:33 -0800 2008 more...]]> 1 5 false false Mon Sep 15 13:10:18 -0700 2008 Mon Sep 15 13:18:08 -0700 2008
DO NOT read this book (or attempt to listen to it on CD, as i did). the NYTimes does ...more...]]> 5 4 false false Mon Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Sep 08 20:09:15 -0700 2008 Sat Mar 14 16:09:34 -0700 2009 2 more...]]> 2 2 false false Thu Sep 18 12:16:01 -0700 2008 Mon Oct 06 11:11:33 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 2 false true Sat Apr 19 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 09 20:22:20 -0700 2008 Mon Apr 21 18:44:11 -0700 2008
I picked up this book at the library because the title made me roll my eyes and gag simultaneously. Then I saw that it was about a rich w...more...]]> 3 1 false false Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Feb 02 20:49:05 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 02 20:55:45 -0800 2009
Michael Gates Gill isn't rich, he's mega-uber-elitist rich. His Dad, Brendan Gill, was one of my favorite writers...more...]]> 0 2 false false Fri Feb 13 17:21:30 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 13 17:26:41 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sun Dec 28 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 05 00:09:08 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 05 00:13:38 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 1 false false Sun Nov 16 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Nov 10 04:29:07 -0800 2008 Tue Nov 18 04:14:56 -0800 2008
This is a memoir type book about a man, who was born to pr...more...]]> 3 1 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Mon Dec 31 05:37:34 -0800 2007 Wed Jan 02 06:01:39 -0800 2008 more...]]> 2 1 false false Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Jul 14 12:15:03 -0700 2008 Sat Nov 08 10:46:08 -0800 2008 more...]]> 1 1 false false Wed Jan 07 09:59:32 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 17 10:24:38 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 1 false false Sat Jan 17 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 22 09:05:24 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 22 09:09:29 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 05 08:21:59 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 05 08:27:00 -0800 2009 more...]]> 1 1 false false Fri Mar 14 18:36:32 -0700 2008 Fri Mar 14 18:41:57 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 22 08:14:58 -0700 2009 Sat May 02 06:39:11 -0700 2009 2 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Mar 28 00:19:51 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 28 22:00:53 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Mar 13 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 13 13:23:51 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 14 12:19:33 -0700 2009
I was intrigued to learn more (based on my co-worker's retailing o...more...]]> 2 0 false false Thu Feb 19 17:33:40 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 19 17:45:46 -0800 2009 more...]]>