Going Down with the Pequod

Look, I don't want to be Chicken Little here, but there is something really wrong with the economy. I mean, there are PROBLEMS, people.
Sure, it costs an arm and a leg to fill up my car. And, yeah, I've noticed the cost of milk and meat among other groceries is up there. But, I think the bellwether of the financial gloom and doom is the closing of my Starbucks.
Starbucks is CLOSED. Cerrado. As in, no more lattes, lady. Mocha is a no-go. Cafe away.
I have an elaborate home coffee ritual, which in my own way is an economic stimulus package. I buy pounds of beans from a plantation on the island of Kauai. They are so freshly roasted, they glisten. Their aroma scents the entire mailbox when they arrive every month per my bean o' the month arrangement (let's not talk about the ridiculous money I spend to do my part to prevent overdevelopment in rural Hawaii). I have a stainless steel burr grinder that produces perfectly measured even grinds for my coffeemaker. The maker itself, timed to lure me from bed, heats water to the ideal temperature for extracting aroma and flavor from the grounds. I add milk and a touch of sugar to my cup and cuddle it in my hands, as though it were fragile. I love my morning coffee. I love the ritual. I love the final result of it. I don't need Starbucks.
Despite this, I am upset about the whole Starbucks thing. First, Starbucks is a good company; they treat their employees well. Second, I have always felt it elevated us a little as Americans. It is drive through (very American) but also chic. It is cooler, more stylish, more refined than McDonald's and every other drive through on every corner in this country. Third, their product isn't instantly palatable--it isn't cloyingly sweet or nauseatingly fatty. In fact, the product is bitter, perhaps even too harshly roasted. But, we of the dumb palettes went anyway! It is undoubtedly a vice, a frivolous luxury of the western world, but it certainly isn't our worst.
Also, it is (sniff. was) a social destination. I could always meet someone at Starbucks. There is something reliable about that.
Everyone always wonders how Starbucks survives. My dad, for one: "People stand in line and spend more than 5 bucks for horrible tasting coffee? What the hell?" But in the face of common sense, Starbucks thrived. And grew. And spread.
But now. Now, when we need the comfort of economic boom more than ever, Starbucks is failing. Apparently, people are too busy standing in line paying 5 bucks a gallon for gas. But, I'll miss it. This will be the second town I've lived in that had no Starbucks. How statistically odd of me. Who knew there WERE two towns without Starbucks? It's gonna be tough. Tighten your belt, pa. There's hard times ahead.