I noticed something on Starbucks cups a few days ago which blew me away. They now have quotations on the side of their cups from a select group of people reflecting on how they see life. Actually it is nothing new and has been around for a few years now but somehow I didn’t look at the side of the cup until now. The quotes have the heading called “The way I see it” and Starbucks does have a website [1] dedicated to it.

My cup had one from Ed Viesturs, First American to climb all fourteen 8,000-meter peaks and author of No Shortcuts to the Top:

I’ve learned in climbing that you don’t “conquer” anything. Mountains are not conquered and should be treated with respect and humility. If we take what the mountains give, have patience and desire, and are prepared, then the mountains will permit us to reach their highest peaks. I believe a lot of things are like that in life.

Nicely said but more intriguing is the fact that they had a short disclaimer below it saying “This is the author’s opinion, not necessarily that of Starbucks. To read more or respond, go to www.starbucks.com/wayiseeit.”

I guess that, no matter how pure and beautiful the message is, the Starbucks legal team had insisted on a disclaimer to avoid someone’s misinterpretation leading to controversy.

But what prompted them to do it?

On further research I had found out that Starbucks had indeed got into trouble in 2005 by a select group who targeted Starbucks for promoting “homosexual values” by including quotes from gay individuals namely the novelist [2] Armistead Maupin.

The group (called Concerned Women of America) were upset that Starbucks supported the San Diego gay pride event.

“If Starbucks is doing this knowingly, it is blatant irresponsibility … All I could think was ‘Starbucks hates children,’” a delusional reactionary named Meghan Kleppinger wrote.

Maupin was quoted saying:

“My only regret about being gay is that I repressed it for so long. I surrendered my youth to the people I feared when I could have been out there loving someone. Don’t make that mistake yourself. Life’s too damn short.”

I understand the fact that Starbucks put disclaimers to detach themselves from material that they are obviously promoting and to further protect themselves from being unjustly accused. However, it just seems pretty ironic that the very material they are promoting i.e. about openness, caring, loving and being non-judgemental as well as looking at life in a positive way has to be disclaimed for the people that don’t have a positive outlook on things, don’t relate and are ugly about it.

I sometimes wonder what these people think, I believe people should learn to act with a little common sense and not place too much emphasis on the small stuff. As Dr. Richard Carlson said “Don’t sweat the small stuff”.

People are definitely entitled to their opinion but what in the world will making a big fuss about it accomplish? Will it cure the hungry people in the world, will it achieve world peace? Will it stop the violence in the world? I didn’t think so. All it did was for Starbucks to make a group of lawyers richer and to potentially stop millions of people having a good read from sipping coffee in the morning.

This is one of the big problems in America today. People just are too concerned over the small things when there are more important stuff to worry about. I am not just talking about the topic of homosexuality in particular, I am talking about everything else too. I guess in a free society, there will always be the select few that cause uncontrolled chaos. Three words that sums it all up … “Get a life”.

Starbucks, evil? Far from it…

Thumbs up to Starbucks for starting this program to promote “open, respectful conversation among a wide variety of individuals” but some just don’t get it do they. Thumbs down to the very select few that argue and try to oppress free speech. If it wasn’t for free speech, these select group would never have been allowed to talk in the first place…. so why doesn’t everyone just try to get a long.

I’ll end with another *perfect* quote-on-a-cup :

Some of the best inventive moments were born out of “wrong thinking.” Most people start with the right way so they all follow the same path. The wrong way will lead to mistakes from which you can learn and create new discoveries – the kind of original ideas that come to life when we dare to be different, keep an open mind and have no fear of failure.

– James Dyson, Industrial designer and inventor of the Dyson vacuum