Venti Iced London Fog with vanilla sweet cream cold foam in a tall cup

Or else, maybe just a nice hot cup of black coffee?

Scientific studies prove it: Drinking coffee is good for you.

But getting between caffeine-deprived people and their coffee at Starbucks?

That can be very bad for you.

This is why it’s the height of irony that Starbucks itself has developed a reputation for extreme frustration on the part of customers who only ever want just a hot, black, cup of coffee, as they wind up waiting behind customers with much more complicated and time-consuming orders.

It’s also why I think it’s pretty smart that of all the many little changes, the new CEO of Starbucks, Brian Niccol, says he wants the chain to move quickly to make its service a little quicker.s

Photo by Athar Khan on Unsplash

Niccol says the goal is a maximum four-minute wait, which is still longer than a lot of people probably want to wait for coffee.

But as a back-to-basics goal it makes sense, and it would represent a marked improvement over the status quo in some areas—especially if the clock starts from the instant you either get in line or open the Starbucks app, as opposed to four minutes after the order is placed.

Among the key targets, according to Niccol in a recent Starbucks earnings call: airport locations.

“When I think about the airports and such,” he said, “there’s such a huge opportunity for us to simplify some of the execution there so that we get people the great throughput that they want so they can get on their way.”

Now, on the eve of some of the busiest travel days of the year, we’ll have a chance to see just how difficult that kind of change actually is.

As CNBC pointed out reporting on this, airport locations pose a special problem for Starbucks because:

• They’re licensed locations, as opposed to company-owned, as the vast majority of Starbucks locations are. That means it’s a lot harder for Big Starbucks in Seattle to change the way they operate by edict.

• They have highly dynamic customer flow. Unlike your local neighborhood Starbucks, which might anticipate surges in demand in the morning, or after school, for example, airline locations go from no demand to swamped in a moment. (“A plane lands, and all of a sudden there are a hundred people when there were zero people there before,” industry researcher Kevin Schimpf told CNBC.)

• Actually, I’ll add another reason, which is that there are no regular customers. Nobody develops a relationship with an airport barista who learns exactly what they want before they’ve even walked up, the way you might in a neighborhood coffee shop.

Now, I don’t know if we’re actually going to see faster lines at airport Starbucks stands this quickly.

It would be a tall order. Or maybe even a venti or a grande order. (Sorry, couldn’t help myself.)

But, having often been that would-be customer—willing to pay the extra premium for an airport Starbucks coffee, but not willing to wait in a line that looks like it might lead to my boarding late and missing out on overhead bin space—I welcome this emphasis for the future.

Meanwhile, maybe we can help each other out.

If your go-to drink at Starbucks is a “Venti Iced London Fog with vanilla sweet cream cold foam in a tall cup,” for example, maybe the Starbucks in Terminal 5 at JFK airport in New York City on Friday December 20 would be a good time to get back to basics, and just go with a plain old, drip coffee.

I’m sure you'll improve the lives of the people behind you in line just a little bit, and spread a little holiday cheer in the process.

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7 other things

• A poll on reactions to the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson found that a plurality of respondents under age 30 found the killing "acceptable." The survey from Emerson College Polling found that 41% of under-30s said the killing was either "somewhat acceptable" (24%) or "completely acceptable" (17%), versus 40% who said it was "unacceptable." Across all other demographics, 68% of respondents said the killing was unacceptable." Suspect Luigi Mangione, 26, was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism and other charges. (The Hill)

• Ukraine carried out one of its most audacious operations on Russian soil early Tuesday, killing Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, the commander of the unit designed to protect Russia’s troops from chemical, radiological and biological attack, by blowing up a scooter on the snowy streets of Moscow. Ukraine said the killing was a special operation by the country’s primary domestic intelligence agency, known as the SBU. (WSJ)

• A month-long postal service strike in Canada was set to end on Tuesday, after the federal labour relations board ordered postal workers to return to work. (Global News)

• More Canadian news: After nearly 10 years at the country’s helm, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is facing growing calls from his own party to resign. Once the poster-boy for liberal politics, his popularity has waned and his approval rating has dipped below 30 per cent several times this year. (The Independent)

• In a rare joint statement, the archivist and deputy archivist of the United States said Tuesday that the 1970s-era Equal Rights Amendment cannot be certified without further action by Congress or the courts, as Democrats press President Joe Biden to act unilaterally on its ratification before he leaves office next month. Although 38 states have ratified it, which would theoretically be enough, many of them missed a 10-year deadline. (AP)

• A new real estate platform lets buyers see the political affiliations of their future neighbors and how many dogs may be living on their block. Tech startup Oyssey believes social data – like age, education and income demographics – is influencing buyers more than the physical conditions of a home. (Axios)

• Mickey Mouse and Bluey are expanding their business partnership. BBC Studios and the Walt Disney Company said on Tuesday that they would collaborate on an animated movie starring Bluey, the Blue Heeler pup who has become a global sensation on children’s television. Bluey is a phenomenon, with more than 50 billion minutes streamed in the United States in 2024, enough to make it the No. 1 streaming show, according to Nielsen. (NY Times)

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Thanks for reading. Photo by Sinitta Leunen on Unsplash. I wrote about some of this Inc.com. See you in the comments!