Bad Starbucks. Bad. Bad.

Alas, poor Starbucks, I loved you well…..

And, yeah, I still do. But my darling Starbies has irritated me. What? you say. Can it be so? Indeed it can.

What horror hath Starbies wrought? Two, actually. Little green sticks, and green tea lattes that ain't so green tea after all.

Let's start with the sticks. These little green thingies (apparently they're called splash sticks) go into the hole in the lid of your coffee. Okay, that's fine. IF you want one. Personally, I don't. And yet I noticed that for a while there I was getting them at the drive through window no matter what. That means I have to immediately take it out. Now it's icky and wet. Where am I supposed to put it? (Okay, yes, that's a stupid question. I put it on the floor with the rest of the crap in my car. But that's sorta the point. These hard plastic thingies are, I repeat, PLASTIC. Isn't Starbucks supposed to be all about the green? Recycling? Health of the planet and all that? And yet they're shoving these stupid green sticks off on me whether I want them or not?)

And that's the real problem–you get them whether you want them or not. If I were in an office, walking a drink carrier of four drinks back to my boss and co-workers, heck yeah. Or trotting down a street, not drinking yet, and wanting to make sure it doesn't squirt onto my silk blouse (a brief pause while I glory in the fact that I can now work in ripped up t-shirts and sweats), well, then one would come in handy.

But I'm in the drive through because I want to DRINK the dang thing, not add to a landfill.

I asked the guy at the window the other day if a corporate edict came down. Did someone get squirted with hot coffee and sue? No. Apparently the district manager decided that "the customer wants them" and now the baristas are required to put them in all drinks. Yeesh.

(I was googling the name of these puppies, and the first blog that came up was in line with my way of thinking. I also ran across another site that noted that the thingies got their start from a virtual suggestion box. I want to find that person and give them a wedgie!)

And as if that weren't enough, I discovered that I was fooled by green tea lattes! Yes, in the interest of health, I've gotten on the green tea bandwagon. So I've started switching from nonfat lattes to nonfat green tea lattes.

Now, a latte is expresso mixed with steamed milk. So it seems reasonable to me that a green tea latte is green tea mixed with steamed milk.

You know what they say about assuming, right?

Anyway, the green tea lattes come with "classic" which is this sickly sweet syrup. So I always got them without classic, and wondered why people would want it, as the version without is naturally sweet just from the tea and milk. (You see where this is going, right?). Keep in mind, my husband and I are doing the Sugar Busters diet. (Him, per doctor's orders. Me, because I'm just that great a wife.). So that means no refined sugar (among many other no-nos).

After umpty billion of those drinks, I finally am chatting up one of the baristas commenting on how I don't want to try something they're sampling because I'm not supposed to have sugar. She eyes me funny and says that the green tea latte I just ordered has sugar. I comment that I ordered it without the syrup. She said, "But sugar is the main ingredient in the matcha."

Say what?

Turns out, the GT lattes are made with this powdered yuckness. Now, I'll take some responsibility. Maybe I should have read the ingredients. But come on! It was a green tea latte! Not a Matcha Latte!

Needless to say, I was irritated. And am back to my regular venti nonfat lattes. Those who know me should be happy to hear that. The world has not actually shifted out of balance after all.

Any pet peeves or recent irritations in your lives? Come on, vent. Don't make me be the only one griping today!