Stop punishing the soymilk drinkers! (Dear Starbucks)

"One grande soy latte please!"

I watch the cashier ring up my order. latte $3.20 reads the cash register. Ok not that bad. I try to make eye contact and distract the worker with my longlashes. I fail. Soy milk 40 cents. Damn . There went $3.60, and i'm definitely going to need a refill.

As a lactose intollerant starbucks loving lady, i've come to accept the fact that coffeshops are going to rip me off on a regular basis because of my milk preference. I never question. I fork it up. Although often coffeeshops look at me asthough i'm a bafoon, and sometiems I end up having to chug espresso shots because no one has heard of "leche de soya." I stand my ground. This is not a phase. THis is not even 100% about being healthy. This is about me not spending time over the toilet, like the last time i had a cowmilk coffedrink. (ouch)

But lately this extra 40-50 cent surcharge has started to piss me off. i mean why should i be punished for my intolerance? And furthermore how much milk are you even putting in my latte? Hardly 40 cents worth! I buy soymilk at safeway every week, and that ginormous 64 ounce container is like 3 bucks at safeway. (cheaper with coupons!)

so Randee does a little math. Lets say there is 4 ounces of milk in my late. 4 ounces/ 64 ounces= 1/16. So i am paying in my latte for 1/16 of a soymilk carton. Well folks? 1/16 (the amount in my drink) * $3 (the price of soy) ~.16. So the amount i should be paying if naything is .16 extra! NOT .40!

Furthermore as a single consumer it is more expensive for me to buy products like soy milk, than a ginormous corporation that buys in bulk like say STARBUCKS. So starbucks pays less for every carton of soymilk than i do, meaning that it is cheaper for them to make coffee drinks with soymilk that it would be for me. To conclude there is absolutely no reason for starbucks to be charging me an exorbinant amount of money to add a token amount of soymilk to my drink.

So often i feel like im being punished for making the healthy and consious choice. Grocercy shopping last semster i saw firsthand how quickly my choices added up...Soymilk, fresh fruit, vegetables, juice and some organic stuff...it got expensive fast. made me just want to buy some frozen food and a few bags of chips and be set for the semester...with money in the bank for a shopping spree!

I know there is not way to make eating organic cheaper. It always going to be more expensive to grow organic grapes and milk the soybeans. vegetarian items arent consumed as much as their counterparts and basic laws of supply and demand dictate that these items will be more expensive.

I'm no revolutionary. I'm no extremist. I'm not stupid. I'm not going to propose a sintax on junk food, or 40 cents extra for whole milk drinks. But it sure would be nice if starbucks did not charge me extra for my soy latte. I mean i spend enough money there anyways