As a Veteran, I consider myself over qualified for Starbucks. To compare Veterans to refugees is very insulting.

@1
I don't think they were comparing veterans to refugees any more than you were comparing refugees to uneducated dirt farmers. Everyone just got clumsy in thier framing.

@1 Most refugees ARE over qualified for the jobs they have to take - because of institutional racism and bigots who assume they're uneducated because they're immigrants. There are engineers, teachers, and doctors working at gas stations and driving cabs all over America. Maybe take the time to talk to them instead of just making ignorant assumptions!

Supporting religion -- any religion -- and that includes Islam, bothers me.

"[R]aising money to rebuild a mosque" simply furthers something I don't like: religion.

Help me sort that one out.

Damn, Starbucks may have to close their Othello branch.

"Seattle residents tend to avoid Starbucks, especially the ones who've lived here longest..."

This is the dumbest sentence written on Slog since Charles' post about demolishing I-5.

@7 - Indeed - many complain about Starbuck's coffee's "burnt" taste - but more often than not, indie coffees around town are lacking in their kick or bite.

In most of the country the only place to get half decent coffee is Starbucks. So they're stuck. HA! :-)

Those of us who've lived here the longest remember that before Starbucks, the coffee on offer was shite. "Folgers-in-a-can-boiled-to-death" shite.

There are many neighborhoods in Seattle that don't have non-Starbucks coffee shops. We're not going to drive 8 miles just to avoid Starbucks, especially when it offers wifi and plenty of tables and the prices are often less than the boutique shops.

Every Starbucks boycott fizzles out the first time they figure out that it's usually only place that doesn't make you beg for a key to use the bathroom.

Thank you, I Got Nuthin' dear. That was indeed a ridiculous statement on the part of Our Dear Leilani. It sounded like the start of one of those dreadful "lifestyle" articles in the Times (except that the Times would never speak ill of Starbucks)

And Kelly L, veterans and refugees are like any other people: Some are great, some are middling and some are ridiculous. I've known some fine refugees in my time - professionals who were reduced to low-level service jobs, and I've known some veterans who would not be able to hold a job if it weren't for preferential treatment they receive in government jobs. It all depends on the circumstances of that person's life.

does this mean that all them country bros are gonna take the "guns and coffee" stickers off their jacked-up F-150s?

Most Starbucks in Seattle have always been where immigrants, and working class types hang out and have the most diverse staff. No offense, but I feel more at ease there than at an indie/ hipster coffee shop, and they've always hired people of color at a higher ratio than most indie shops. Again, no offense, but the generalization of "all Seattle " is just not true.

Starbucks also has a goal to hire 10000 veterans/veteran spouses. They are helping everyone.

I'm a veteran (& an immigrant) and I fully support Starbucks's decision to hire more refugees. I don't normally go to Starbucks for coffee. May be I'll give the one near my home a visit and check it out.

Sometimes giant corporations do the right thing - maybe for the wrong reasons (and honestly, is anyone really operating under the delusion this decision wasn't analyzed from the position of how it will affect their bottom-line?) - but they still do right, even despite themselves.

@1: My dad worked for Starbucks when he got laid off, and he was at the time an engineer with over 15 years of experience. I'm a graduate of one of the best universities in the country and I worked retail, and still work retail, to pay the bills while I'm in grad school. A day's work is nothing to be ashamed of, even if it doesn't take your full talent to do.