I've had Starbucks cards since the company introduced them, and my family is full of alcoholics, so drinking beer is a once- or twice-yearly thing. Coffee, though, is several-times-a-day.

Apple simply lets me continue doing something I've been doing for years in a shiny, candy-like fashion.

This is what you were doing instead of [other seemingly more urgent HR tasks]

That always seems to be the case with HR departments! (no offense, Scrappy.)

If the median household income in your area is X, what is a reasonable salary expectation for a single young professional to have?

I don't think they're corralative. Salary really depends on industry, years of experience, education level, the type of company (non-profit, small corporate, large corporate), benefits included, bonus and/or commission potential.

Location (as in cost of living for said location) is also a variable.

My suggestion is to find a professional association for the industry or job type and see if they have salary survey data. I did that at my old company and negotiated a decent raise based on industry, years of experience, size of company and location.

Sorry to be so snarkful about it SH, I just find those cards to be a deep and regrettable scam.

Sorry to be so snarkful about it SH, I just find those cards to be a deep and regrettable scam.

I didn't find it snarkful; I know there are both non-Starbucks and non-Apple folk around. Heck, until my Windows Mobile phone died on me (many, many times) while I was in Atlanta last month, *I* was a non-iPhone person.

I choose to spend money on coffee rather than other, more dangerous things to become addicted to. And if I can tie up my income in a coffee-only fashion, that guarantees I won't indulge in the stronger drugs the Seattle gay scene constantly pushes on me.

wrod. And so many Apple people are *so* annoying. (now, people don't generally need permission to be assholes, whatever the trigger is, but they really have internalized that whole "too cool for school" image.) But my posting about a computer problem is NOT your frickin' cue to step in and wax rhapsodic about your damn MacBook. Honest to god.ETA: Having Rahm Emanuel as my tag makes some conversations extra funny.

Re: crash test, go team crumple zones and airbag!

Rachel Maddow used that footage to illustrate Why Regulation Matters. She's so smart.

Rachel Maddow used that footage to illustrate Why Regulation Matters. She's so smart.

Yeah. And oh boy did the auto industry scream and cry about the evils of those regulations back in the '60s and '70s... as well as hire private investigators to dig up dirt on Ralph Nader.

I didn't find it snarkful; I know there are both non-Starbucks and non-Apple folk around.

Well, I'm not snarking at Starbucks (I get coffee there frequently), or Apple (currently on one). Just the the idea of the cards.