So what's your luxury item?
Or, more precisely, what luxury item have you been cutting back on in the current economy?
Do you buy more generic brands at the grocery store? Have you stopped going to the tanning booth or getting your nails done? Did you drop some cable movie channels? (Seriously, does anybody really watch Cinemax anymore?)
Or have you simply told Starbucks to hold the latte?
If you've been saying no to the upscale coffee pusher lately, apparently you're not alone. The company has announced it is closing 600 of its shops nationwide. I've seen no listing of the number of people who will be out of work as a result, but The Huffington Post offers a handy list of closing locations, so you can check if your own neighborhood will soon be Starbucks-Free. For me, the local Altamonte Mall will be losing the "baristas" but they will still be slinging steaming milk and espresso at the shop near the Wal-Mart on 434. The rent per square foot is probably cheaper there.
While I'm not exactly a fan of complicated java drinks, I can't help but feel a sense of regret that the fledgling coffee culture has been strangled before it had a chance to thrive in places like Seymour, Indiana, Pearl, Mississippi and Tridelphia, West Virginia.
In what is a sublime example of the Bush economy, it's nice to know that people with shrinking stock portfolios and Adjustable Rate Mortgages on their McMansions can still find a way to tighten their belts, by simply foregoing their daily grande-half-caf-double-shot-latte.
Especially since swapping that SUV for a Prius is probably out of the question right now.