A Defense of Starbucks

When I was a junior in high school, my dad made a decision that changed my life forever. After experiencing a major conversion to Christ and entering the Catholic Church on Easter of the year 2000, my dad decided to quit his job as a Frito Lay Plant Manager in order to focus on his faith and family. Growing up, my dad's only, and I mean ONLY, purpose and focus in life was to make as much money as humanly possible. And he was really good at it. My childhood was spent in gated neighborhoods, private school educations, and never having to worry about how we were going to pay for anything. Unfortunately it also meant moving every 3 years, fast food dinners, and a dad who more often than not did not have time for his family.

When my dad gave up his $250,000 a year salary, we became broke overnight. This decision was bittersweet for our family- on one hand I had my dad back, on the other we worried about how we were going to survive without his income. During this time, my mother, who had dropped out of college upon finding out that she was pregnant with my sister, was hired by Starbucks coffee as a barista. This position paid $8 an hour. For a housewife who did not have a college education, this was the best job she could get.

I want to make some things clear. At this point, my dad was unemployed. We had no income and no health insurance. My sister was a freshman in college, and I was finishing up high school at a Catholic college-prep school. The day my mother started working at Starbucks, our entire family was put on a health care plan, even if she only worked part-time hours. This plan paid for medical emergencies (like when my sister was diagnosed with epilepsy), dental visits, and vision for our entire family of four.

Within six months my mother was promoted to a shift supervisor, and a few months after that she became an assistant manager. One year later, she was promoted again to be a store manager. My mom has worked at Starbucks now as one of the top managers in the state for the past 10 years. She earns a high income, due to her excellent performance. Throughout those 10 years, my dad has worked part time at various jobs, but our family was able to survive due to my mothers career. This is the American dream. A mother can enter into the work force after years of being a housewife, and the only thing that matters is how hard she is willing to work. 

I will always be grateful to Starbucks for the role that they played in helping my family through a difficult transition. I love the company, in spite of their leftist policies. I love their CORE values, although they are not the same as mine because they are a secular company and I am a Christian. I think that the quality of the drinks they serve, the atmosphere of community and friendship that they try to support, and the way they treat their employees is exceptional for a company that size. 

I know that Starbucks supports things that I morally disagree with, but the thing is, they ALWAYS have! Starbucks has always offered abortions as a part of their health care plans, they have always offered benefits for same-sex partners (before it was trendy). I would venture to guess that MOST companies in America do those things. And soon, with the HHS mandate, they all will be forced to by the federal government. I do not believe that it is fair for Christians to hold a secular company to the same moral standards as we profess. I believe that the company values taking care of their employees, and this is the best way that they know how without the formation of Christian values. 

I wish that Starbucks was a company that professed Christian values, but they are not. I wish they would be a little less politically active and focus instead on making their company great- serving quality drinks 100% of the time. And maybe the time will come when I feel it is necessary to boycott the company because of thier political beliefs. But, this is such a struggle for me because I don't drink their coffee because I agree with them- I drink it because it is GOOD! In the same way that I don't eat Chick-fil-A because they are a Christian company- I eat it because it is GOOD! That is capitalism, my friends. May the best product win. 

Let Your "Yes" mean "Yes"

I absolutely love the New Year Holiday. Every year I sit down with my journal and I reflect back on the past year and take an honest (hopefully) assessment of my life- the joys and blessings, and the struggles and weaknesses. This year was no different. On December 31st, I sat down and wrote out my list and wrote a whole extra page of New Year's Resolutions. But by January 1st, the end of that night, I think I can honestly say that my resolution has COMPLETELY changed. 

I'll be honest, I am eating a huge piece of humble pie right now. I don't want to write these words, but I need to. On New Year's Eve, I experienced a pretty depressing beginning to the New Year. I had invited my friends to celebrate by going to a nearby bar, then returning to my apartment to ring in the new year. I had done so because earlier in the week when asking people if they had any plans, the unanimous answer was "no". After suggesting this plan, several friends agreed that it sounded fun. On New Year's Eve, I cleaned my apartment, went shopping for snacks, and spent the day trying to prepare for the evening. 

By the afternoon, it started becoming clear that everyone who had previously said they could come was bailing- some were legitimate reasons (needing to work early, not feeling well, etc...) but some just found something better to do. In the end, only one person who said they would attend actually did. Although I was very disappointed, I still had a great time, and was very grateful for the friendships that I do have. However, this experience has stayed on my heart for the past week.

See, to me, here is the deal. Our whole generation has a MASSIVE problem. It is called a lack of commitment. We are literally incapable of making a commitment more than a few hours before the event. We can blame the way that we were raised, or the cell phone, texting technology, but the reality is that it simply comes down to the fact that we just are not convinced that it is important anymore. And I am not just talking about the secular world here- this affects ALL of my Catholic brothers and sisters in my generation.

I fully acknowledge that I am the first one guilty of this. In fact, on New Year's day, RIGHT after this experience, I did not attend an event that I had said I would due to a lack of planning on my part.

This year, one of my resolutions was to discern marriage to my wonderful boyfriend. To be thinking about a commitment to someone for the rest of my life scares the bejesus out of me. And, it is no wonder why- I can't even decide how I want to spend my Friday night. We live in a constant fear of missing out- that something better will come along that is more fun or more cool. Well, frankly, I am tired of living this way. Because the truth is that we are called to something so much better than this- to live with integrity.

This passage from Scripture has been resounding in my head all week long. "Let your 'yes' mean 'yes' and your 'no' mean 'no.'" But, the verse that I never think about is the one that comes right after it. "Anything more is from the evil one." WHAT!?

This, my friends, is a big flippin deal. Anytime our yes means maybe we are speaking words from the evil one. I actually cannot believe it has taken me this long to realize this. I do it all the time. I say yes because I don't want to hurt someone's feelings, but really this is a  SIN. Big time. 

So this year, I am throwing out my list of resolutions (although hopefully I will still climb 4 14er's) and instead I am making this my resolution. I will become a woman whose yes means yes and no means no. No excuses.

What is your resolution this year?