I am a consumer at these two American outlets but they suck

I’d probably add Walmart to this list but, fortunately, Walmart is rarely present in the life of my family.

Starbucks and Costco are present, unfortunately.

Let’s give credit when it's due. As a family, we travel a lot — for pleasure and for our kids’ activities. We’re not into fast food, save for Chipotle and a couple of other places, but Starbucks is one of those places we do stop by quite a lot. It’s a no-lose option when you need a quick drink, snack, or break; you’re always guaranteed to find one near you. I do grab a cup of coffee because I do drink a lot of coffee, sometimes in place of my meals.

I am not one of those capricious folks lamenting how America is less refined than, for example, Europe. It’s stupid comparing Starbucks to cozy coffee shops and bakeries in Paris or Brussels or wherever. Of course, there are much better coffee shops. Starbucks is a huge chain and doesn’t aspire to sell you the best cappuccino. Still, though, its coffee sucks! And its other drinks are just sugary unhealthy crap! And it has no fresh pastry. Mediocre and low quality crap.

As for Costco, my wife shops there about every other week. She tells me that for many things it’s super cheap, especially for a large family like ours. I’m sure she’s right. Still, though, I find many things and sights at Costco disgusting and I’m noticing that my sense of disgust is growing with every passing year. Maybe it’s the aftermath of Covid shortages. I’d…