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.
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