I'm not seeing the comparison here. There are grocery stores where you can get potatoes at a reasonable price, based on the costs involved in growing, shipping, and stocking said potatoes. No, I don't grow my own potatoes, I shop at those stores. The grocery stores that charge more for potatoes are generally the "high end" grocery stores (in my area, Whole Foods, Raleys, Sprouts, etc) and are not doing convenience pricing which is what is being discussed.

It's adorable how people taking a left turn out of coffee shops at rush hour think I'm going to let them in.

The part that makes me angry is that a few minutes research will often find you a trove of small businesses serving fine coffee in the area. I really don’t see what’s special about that brand.

Nah, in minds of people I actually respect, buying at Starbucks ia not associated with being rich, its the other way around 😃 (a poor person either with poor self-control/willpower or intentionally trying to come off as rich)

It's a symptom of overwork. People are too tired to exist outside of work, so they actually are forced to buy the coffee / chai latte / whatever. Without the drink they can't get through the day. Then they're too tired to make lunch so they have to buy the $10 bagel. Then they need to order dinner because no fucking way are you going to the grocery store or preparing anything after a 996 shift. Then you lose consciousness on the couch and repeat tomorrow

It's essentially another form of income tax; the higher paying your job the more you have to pay in human fuel

It's also one of those weird networking obligations too, where if you skip too often, people notice