The Perks of Service

In the 11 years since its fouding, Araghi's Green Beans Coffee Worldcafe companyhas overcome daunting obstacles- suicide bombers, hijackers, snipers- just so it can offer lattes and mochas to US soldiers sewrving in the Middle East and Cental Asia. The son of Iranian immigrants, Araghi grew up in Los Gatos, California, and begin his career as a chiropractor. After he'd set up a clinic an Saudi Arabia, ine of his patients, a Saudi princess, offered him an intriguing oppurtunity: Would he open an American-style coffee cafe in a furniture showroom she owned? Enlisting the help of his brother, Jon, Araghi started selling local coffee to Riyadh locals. Soon military personnel were flocking in. Within months, their commander asked Araghi to build a coffeehouse right in the base. As American troops moved into Kuwait and Qatar, the Araghi followed opening 15 Green Beans cafes in the region by 2001. Because of shifting troop deployments, they've has to be mobile- and innovative. It soon beacme apparent that the cafes made a difference in the life of the soldiers. Then came 9/11. American troop deployments to Afghanistan and later Iraq meants that Green Beans would be serving coffee in war zones. " It was risky, dangerous," says Araghi. "But we couldn't say, We'll o to the safe places, but not where its dangerous." The logistics of shipping materials into a war zone were nightmarish and not to mention costly. Containers often arrived riddld with bullet holes, if they arrived at all. Hijackers nabbed two containers, each carrying merchandise up to $110,000. There were personnel dangers too. Kidnappings of Americans unsettled Araghi and his staffs. Some took to wearing body armour and helmets- " our business casual," Araghi calls it- as they served coffee. What started with a $20,000 investment and a single cafe has become a thriving $20.8 million business with 68 shops, all on or military bases. For Jason Araghi, Green Beans Coffee has become more than just a business venture. Wherever he goes, soldiers stand at the coffeebars, M16s slung over their shoulders as they show him photos of their kids and talk wistfully about their hometowns. " That's when it hits home thst they're just guys like me. They're just doing their job," he says. " They want their kids to have the same freedom as they did when they were growing up.

I certainly feel that Jason Araghi and his brother are both wonderful and noble men. Just for the sake of delivering coffee, they had to put their lives on the line everyday. I think that he is a very lucky men to have the support of his wife and family. These are, after all, rare cases as people working in foreign land, especially in war, would not get the support they need from their friends and family. If i were Jason Araghi, i would not have served coffee in war zones as i did not want to take the risk of a bullet getting into my head. I would not deny the fact that i admired him for this, his courage and bravery. In my opinion, i think that the Araghis cares truly about the soldiers as the cafes made a difference in the overall quality of life of the soldiers. It let them enjoy familiar fare: an expresso and a muffin, or a panini. But different people have different opinions and it is inevitable that some people want to make this a political issue by saying the Araghis are in business to profit from the war. These people must be jealous about the money that the Araghis are currently earning and have bad intentions. But from the way i read this article, i conclude that they are a company that just want to serve their customers. This can be seen from their company slogan " Honor first, Coffee second" beacuse a lot of what they do is about honour. They knew deep down in their heart that when the war started, the honorable thing was to go to Iraq.

Done by: Chiang Hai Wei