Every Wednesday I have a cello lesson in Ochanomizu. And every Wednesday, after my lesson, I stop at the nearby Starbucks for a latte and revel in America’s international consumer empire.
Yesterday, I got my latte to go, along with some sort of heart-clogging pastry. They tossed the coffee and cookie into a paper bag, handed it over and I started off towards the subway.
When I grabbed my coffee out of the bag, I noticed that there was a green plastic plug stick into the hole in the lid, where you are supposed to drink from. “How clever,” I thought, “They created a custom plug to stop the coffee from spilling inside the bag.”
When I pulled the plug out, I noticed it wasn’t a custom plug at all, but rather the top of a Starbucks plastic coffee stirrer. The shape is too perfect for this to be an accident — the stirrer even plugs into the cup with a satisfying “click”.
Some clever engineer someplace figured out that if they molded the top of the stirrer just right, it could double as a plug for the coffee cup.
This probably isn’t new and it probably isn’t unique to Japanese Starbucks. But it’s the kind of elegant hack that makes me smile. Hats off to you, anonymous Starbucks employee!
