Rosenbaum hammers on Fish for assumedly acting like former President Bush did when he walked into a supermarket and was amazed by the scanning machines at the checkout counters. In fact, that's the whole overly-repetitive critique Rosenbaum offers: can you believe this so-called "scholar" has never been in a Starbucks before?
But I don't think that's what Fish was doing. Maybe I'm reading this too much in Fish's credit, but I think he was taking a perspective that is similar to what many comedic writers like Dave Barry employ: express wonder at something that is nowadays ubiquitous. His point is that our service economy is becoming less service-oriented, and he's doing it in a fashion that reminds us that it didn't always used to be this way. Thus, it doesn't have to be this way. If we're sick of the Starbucks method, go somewhere else. Many people may wind up patronizing Starbucks because they feel there just isn't a better alternative.
However, I'll point out that Starbucks didn't get so popular by once being service-oriented and then suddenly changing its style after we were hooked on its caffeine-laden beverages. While some people may prefer old-time homey service, the vast majority of the public likes being able to order exactly what it wants, no matter how au lait-crazy it sounds, and they'll wait in line for it and pay five bucks for the privilege. And perhaps that is the real story here, that Fish seems unwilling to acknowledge that the Starbucks world is exactly what everyone else around him wants.
