Dear Starbucks corporate,

How have you managed to form a sucessful business plan that can forecast more Starbucks locations in China than in the US by 2020, but you have failed to design a cup that won't drip? My experience is that if the lid is placed on the cup by my barista and I do not remove it, there is a 50% chance it will drip all over me.

However, if I remove the lid to add milk, sugar, etc. and then replace it, there is 100% certainty that the cup will start to spit coffee at me from between the lid and cup. How have you ovelooked this design flaw?

Sure, you can say to me "Laura, just ask your barista to not place the lid on - this reduces your drip risk by half." While this is true, and each time the dripping begins I curse myself for not doing that, I will still stand by my first statement that this would still result in 50% drippage e.g. not acceptable.

Please take a cross country trip from Seattle to Boston, then drive down I-93 to Randolph, MA home of Dunkin Donuts. Their small size cup (for those of you who habla Starbuckian, that's a Tall) is ok, but I give many accolades to their medium cup. It is practically drip-proof, and as an added benefit, spillproof. And had a resealable lid. Basically, best cup ever.

I'll give you 6 months to modify your cup design and allow production to begin. Let's say I'll check in with you on December 1, 2005 if I haven't seen a better cup design being presented by my barista at my local Starbucks (Nicollett and Franklin Ave W, Minneapolis, MN).

Sincerely,
Laura