Frothing baristas

Starbucks baristas are serving up triple shots of attitude over customers who try to milk the system. They are steamed over ersatz iced lattes.

This all splashed in the company's lap when Times business reporter Melissa Allison wrote a smooth, rounded story with a crisp finish about the highly caffeinated chatter on www.starbucksgossip.com. A few frugal customers take their jumbo espresso flagrantes on ice over to the condiment counter and top off that loving cup with half and half. Lots of it.

The baristas are irate over such behavior. Talk about lactose intolerance. They ought to switch to decaf a lot earlier in the day. There is no tip jar at the condiment counter, yet, and somebody has to go refill the cream container. Bummer.

Allison reported that Starbucks is officially mum on this do-it-yourself development, but the whole affair has a familiar slightly burned, mildly bitter aftertaste. It's the perfect brouhaha for a company that built an empire on selling warmed milk and a cup of coffee heavily laced with cachet for three bucks.

So a few customers fudge with the "free" cream. Is that stealing? Some of the employees at the company with nearly 3,000 coffee shops in 37 countries say as much.

Hmm, so what does that say about the lone copy of the newspaper that gets read and reread by Starbucks customers? No point. Just asking.