Mmmm, forbidden donut (and Slate pretension)

I didn't realize this, but while reading kausfiles, I discovered that Slate has a column called "middlebrow". From what I can gather, it looks at all those mainstream things and businesses that Slate readers are too good for.

Today's is on Dunkin' Donuts. As a fat guy, mad anthony is very familiar with Dunkin Donuts. Slate views DD as some sort of place that only blue-collar workers go to - talking about The store's loyal constituents—cops, firemen, construction workers.

I think Dunkin' Donuts appeal is much broader. I know quite a few white-collar workers who make daily stops at Dunkin' Donuts. My older brother, a high-school teacher, makes daily stops at the DD, and has worn out several travel mugs in the process. Yes, it's anecdotal, but quite a few of my own coworkers and reletives also make regular stops at Dunkin' Donuts - and they are college-educated white collar workers, not construction workers.

Their elitist view of Dunkin' Donuts also extends to the coffee. Sure, DD is introducing some fancy new beverages, but that doesn't hide the fact that DD has always sold very good coffee. There is a reason that they sell coffee in bags to brew at home - their coffee is that good. (Their take-away coffee is helped by the fact that they actually serve it in styrofoam cups, making it actually stay warm, unlike the enviromentally sound but poorly insulated paper cups that Starbucks uses).

Slate also busts on DD for it's atmosphere. But I'm not quite sure that matters - most of my dunkin' donuts trips are solitary - I go in, grab food, leave. The only times I can recall sitting in a dunkin' donuts was when I was in high school, it was late, and they were one of the few places open.

Slate drips with pretension - they like to see themselves as a sort of online version of The Nation or The Atlantic. But sometimes they go a little too far to show how out of touch they are with a very large portion of America.