How Starbucks Saved My Life: A Son of Privilege Learns to Live Like Everyone Else
Michael Gates Gill, 2007. Gotham Books, a division of Penguin Group, New York, NY. 262 pages.
It was during an unplanned visit to a bookstore that I found this small copy; I was only waiting for my sister to finish shopping elsewhere when this book caught my eye- first as a novelty: A friend of a friend is quite taken with Starbucks, almost to the point of unhealthy obsession. It was when I read the jacket, however, that I took the book seriously- so seriously I left that day with a copy of the first printing, with high hopes of an autobiography that would rise above the normal self-indulgent drek that pollutes the biography and 'self-help' shelves of a Barnes & Noble near you. (Tip: If you want to distinguish yourself not only from the proliteriate, but also from the hoi polloi that normally frequents such a locale, I recommend pronouncing the store's name as though it were "Barns and Noblé" with special emphasis on the schwa, including raising the eyebrows slightly, like a French waiter silently questioning a patron's choice of wine. But I digress..)
"How Starbucks..." did not, in many ways, disappoint. The book is a touching exploration of the barriers we construct between the unwritten castes of society. What could better teach a lesson on how circumstance defines where, but not who, you are than falling from the heights of the corporate world to 'menial' tasks?
Gill outlines a number of years of his life, from his childhood with a driven father to his Yale education, and the patronage (or nepotistic) system that landed him his job with J. Walter Thompson. It was not until Gill was fired my higher management that he discovered what it was like with the 'little people', when he was forced to try to find work in a tough economy as a sixty-year-old man with no practical labor experience.
Offered a job at a Starbucks, Gill eagerly accepts, but is quick to view the job as beneath him. It is the great impetus of the book, however, to watch him struggle with this view, as he begins to find the hard work fulfilling- and to see his discovery of the racism and elitism that lives in his mind and heart. We are struck by the juxtaposition: Gill, who had never really believed that the world belonged to 'old white men' (as his daughter often told him) suddenly finds himself on the same side of the counter as young, productive black youth- serving 'old white men', and receiving an impressive dose of humility in the process- as well as self-worth: Gill had never really worked for anything in his life; privilege had provided.
Gill notes that the disdain for other groups is self-perpetuating. In a poignant sort of moment, his new boss tells him "...her angry, bitter aunt had told her repeatedly that 'white folks are the enemy.' In her view, she was taking a risk giving me a job, and wasn't going to give an inch until she knew I wouldn't give her any trouble [because of race]"
A powerful topic comes up repeatedly: the difference between rule by fear, by raison d'etre, and by partnership. He notes that no one at JWT respected each other, recounting a story of a presentation to Ford Motor Company of over two hundred ad layouts- each the painstaking work of hours of intense effort- where the executive responded "nothing bites my ass". Says Gill, "Everyone at Ford lived in fear and loved to see someone else get publicly humiliated"
What touches and inspires is the hope in the recounting of Gill's story- and the refreshing humility he brings.
Perhaps what disappoints in "How Starbucks..." is not the story itself, but that Gill fails to draw any overarching conclusion. While we should not seek to moralize every story, Gill has through his incredible transformation set the stage for an incredible platform of philosophical truths. He fails, then, to give us anything to live by or conclude. Does this mean we cannot teach ourselves? Certainly not! But it is unfortunate to see this man able to recount his experience with such gripping, empathy-invoking language and yet not draw any greater lesson out of it than "Wow, I'm happy now"
All things considered, a better read than most autobiographies. If you're looking for inspiration, hope, or to rekindle the belief that hard work can make it, grab this from the shelf. If you'd like a deeper interpretation of the meaning of life and the value of hard work, stick to Marx and Hegel.
-Benjamin
Michael Gates Gill, 2007. Gotham Books, a division of Penguin Group, New York, NY. 262 pages.
It was during an unplanned visit to a bookstore that I found this small copy; I was only waiting for my sister to finish shopping elsewhere when this book caught my eye- first as a novelty: A friend of a friend is quite taken with Starbucks, almost to the point of unhealthy obsession. It was when I read the jacket, however, that I took the book seriously- so seriously I left that day with a copy of the first printing, with high hopes of an autobiography that would rise above the normal self-indulgent drek that pollutes the biography and 'self-help' shelves of a Barnes & Noble near you. (Tip: If you want to distinguish yourself not only from the proliteriate, but also from the hoi polloi that normally frequents such a locale, I recommend pronouncing the store's name as though it were "Barns and Noblé" with special emphasis on the schwa, including raising the eyebrows slightly, like a French waiter silently questioning a patron's choice of wine. But I digress..)
"How Starbucks..." did not, in many ways, disappoint. The book is a touching exploration of the barriers we construct between the unwritten castes of society. What could better teach a lesson on how circumstance defines where, but not who, you are than falling from the heights of the corporate world to 'menial' tasks?
Gill outlines a number of years of his life, from his childhood with a driven father to his Yale education, and the patronage (or nepotistic) system that landed him his job with J. Walter Thompson. It was not until Gill was fired my higher management that he discovered what it was like with the 'little people', when he was forced to try to find work in a tough economy as a sixty-year-old man with no practical labor experience.
Offered a job at a Starbucks, Gill eagerly accepts, but is quick to view the job as beneath him. It is the great impetus of the book, however, to watch him struggle with this view, as he begins to find the hard work fulfilling- and to see his discovery of the racism and elitism that lives in his mind and heart. We are struck by the juxtaposition: Gill, who had never really believed that the world belonged to 'old white men' (as his daughter often told him) suddenly finds himself on the same side of the counter as young, productive black youth- serving 'old white men', and receiving an impressive dose of humility in the process- as well as self-worth: Gill had never really worked for anything in his life; privilege had provided.
Gill notes that the disdain for other groups is self-perpetuating. In a poignant sort of moment, his new boss tells him "...her angry, bitter aunt had told her repeatedly that 'white folks are the enemy.' In her view, she was taking a risk giving me a job, and wasn't going to give an inch until she knew I wouldn't give her any trouble [because of race]"
A powerful topic comes up repeatedly: the difference between rule by fear, by raison d'etre, and by partnership. He notes that no one at JWT respected each other, recounting a story of a presentation to Ford Motor Company of over two hundred ad layouts- each the painstaking work of hours of intense effort- where the executive responded "nothing bites my ass". Says Gill, "Everyone at Ford lived in fear and loved to see someone else get publicly humiliated"
What touches and inspires is the hope in the recounting of Gill's story- and the refreshing humility he brings.
"Maybe I was climbing Jacob's ladder, I thought, as I walked up my steep stairs at the end of this long night.
Back off, I told myself. You are not on some high-flying spiritual journey. You are a guy who made a series of mistakes and blew an easy existence. Face it, Mike, I told myself, you didn't get religion, you got broken.
I admitted at that moment that I would never have found this new world I really loved unless I had to.
And I had not been on some spiritual journey for the perfect job or satisfying life: I had been caught up in the struggle for survival...which was common for most people in this world, but uncommon for the spoiled prince I had been."
Perhaps what disappoints in "How Starbucks..." is not the story itself, but that Gill fails to draw any overarching conclusion. While we should not seek to moralize every story, Gill has through his incredible transformation set the stage for an incredible platform of philosophical truths. He fails, then, to give us anything to live by or conclude. Does this mean we cannot teach ourselves? Certainly not! But it is unfortunate to see this man able to recount his experience with such gripping, empathy-invoking language and yet not draw any greater lesson out of it than "Wow, I'm happy now"
All things considered, a better read than most autobiographies. If you're looking for inspiration, hope, or to rekindle the belief that hard work can make it, grab this from the shelf. If you'd like a deeper interpretation of the meaning of life and the value of hard work, stick to Marx and Hegel.
-Benjamin
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