A Whole Latte Coffee Karma

"Your coffee's on the roof!" hollered Alan Lichter, a chiropractor.

"Oh, my God, you left your coffee on your car!" Anne McCormick yelled, running toward the Camry, waving.

Veronica Pecnik paused on her way to a job interview and tried to rescue the cup from the roof while the Camry was stopped at a light.

They all got Starbucks coupons. So did a bicycle messenger who zoomed through a red light to inform Bentzel about the cup. And the driver of a Filene's Basement truck, who climbed out of the cab to get his coupon. And Pam Artiss, a stay-at-home mom from Landover, who had a simple explanation for why she stopped to help: "My husband does this kind of thing all the time."

Of course, not everybody was a good Samaritan. Some people just stared silently and went on their way.

"Look at the look on this guy!" says Fried. "He's thinking, 'Should I say something'?"

By now, Fried had circled downtown Washington a half-dozen times. He'd passed the Starbucks at 15th and K, and the Starbucks at 16th and K, and the Starbucks at 19th and K, and the Starbucks at 15th and I, and the Starbucks at 18 and I, and the Starbucks at 17th and L, and the Starbucks at . . . Hmmmm, at this point, a question pops to mind: Could it be true? Is Starbucks really trying to take over the world?

"No," says Bentzel, "we are are not trying to take over the world. I promise you that."

Oops! Looks like we buried the scoop:

"We are not trying to take over the world," a Starbucks spokeswoman said yesterday, as she drove around the nation's capital with a fake coffee cup stuck on the roof of the car.