Woman expresses indignation at quote on Starbucks cup
SPRINGBORO ‚Äö√Ñ√Æ ‚Äö√Ñ√¨ Michelle Incanno was an admitted Starbucks addict. She’d buy the company’s coffee beans every week. Whenever she’d get the chance to drop by a Starbucks, she would, placing the same order every time: a large, house brewed coffee with nonfat milk and two Splenda. When the Seattle-based chain opened a drive-through near her Springboro home, she was in java heaven. That was until she got an unexpected jolt last week from her coffee cup. Printed on the cup was: “Why in moments of crisis do we ask God for strength and help? As cognitive beings, why would we ask something that may well be a figment of our imaginations for guidance? Why not search inside ourselves for the power to overcome? After all, we are strong enough to cause most of the catastrophes we need to endure.”
File this one under “Get over yourself, already….” Or perhaps “No good deed goes unpunished…or unwhined about.” Starbucks is a company that has always taken a measure of pride in doing business differently. One of the things it does is listen to it’s customers. Now and then, those comments, when particularly thought-provoking, wind up on the side of their paper coffee cups. Of course, anytime you do something out of the ordinary, there’s bound to be someone who takes it as an affront to all that is decent and holy, and they’ll view it as a personal insult directed at their narrow belief system. That this person will be a Christian is almost a given. Here’s where our latest DUMB@$$ AWARD wiener comes in.
I’m sure that Michelle Incanno means well, and that she’s sincere in her love for her God…but, Jeebus, d’ya think that she could lighten up just a wee bit?? It’s almost as if she thinks that the thought on the side of her coffee cup was intended solely as a personal affront to her and her beliefs. Actually, nothing could be farther from the truth…unless, of course, she really IS arrogant enough to see it that way. Then again, it wouldn’t be the first time that ignorance and arrogance earned someone a DUMB@$$ AWARD….
What is it about so many Christians that makes so sensitive to different viewpoints, and so convinced that the expression of differing viewpoints is a direct assault on their religious freedom? Jeebus, even the picture of Incanno leave one with the impression that she’s a joyless, humorless troll whose right to believe as she sees fit has just been violated.
Why do so many who call themselves “Christians” possess such a joyless, hair-trigger sensibility when it comes to something- anything- that falls outside their narrow belief system? What is it that makes Incanno believe that Starbucks was directly insulting her religious beliefs? (Perhaps she could have just asked for a different coffee cup??) Is the viewpoint of one man, printed on a coffee cup, REALLY that much of a threat to her? Is her faith that weak that some writing on the side of a coffee cup can really shake her faith to it’s very core? Man, if that’s the case, Incanno’s got bigger problems than making sure she’s not over-caffeinated.
Methinks perhaps that someone needs to light up a bit, eh??
It is attributed to Bill Schell, a Starbucks customer from London, Ontario, and was included on the cup as part of an effort by the company to collect different viewpoints and spur discussion.
“As someone who loves God, I was so offended by that. I don’t think there needs to be religious dialogue on it. I just want coffee,” said Incanno, a married mother of three who is Catholic.
She wasn’t satisfied with a company disclaimer saying the quote is the author’s opinion, not necessarily that of Starbucks. It invites customers to respond at www.starbucks.com/wayiseeit.
Starbucks spokeswoman Sanja Gould said the collection of thoughts and opinions is a “way to promote open, respectful conversation among a wide variety of individuals. “
But Incanno said her Starbucks days are over.
“I wouldn’t feel right going back,” she said.
Of course not. Being a humorless, judgemental DUMB@$$ means being able to take offense at any little thing that doesn’t happen to fit your narrow view of “the way things oughta be.” Hey, I can understand Incanno’s point of view, and she is certainly free to express her point of view by taking her business elsewhere. All she’s really done, though, is to reveal herself to be an intolerant zealot unwilling to entertain the views of others unless they dovetail with her own. Anything else is heresy.
I’m bombarded by religious messages all day long. I don’t always appreciate them, but I do understand that this is a free country, and people are free to express their point of view. That’s the beautiful thing about freedom of speech. You don’t have to agree with a point of view; it may even anger you. But that doesn’t give you the right to try to squash it.
What is it about so many Christians that makes them think that they have the perfect right to object whenever something doesn’t absolutely reflect and affirm their narrow belief system? This was a sentiment expressed on the outside of a coffee cup by a company renowned for trying to spark dialogue by getting people to think about the world around them. I guess some folks simply can’t countenance the reality that not everyone thinks like they do- no matter how much they expect that to be the case.
Incanno is free to love God, though I’ve got to tell you, I just hope that her God has a better sense of humor and perspective than she does. Or, as one wag put it,
Devout Catholic? Oh, so she won’t drink Starbucks coffee now but she’ll drink the blood of Christ?
It’s a point of view- NOT an assault on your precious, inviolable religious beliefs. Besides, if your faith is that easily shaken, perhaps you should just stay home and stick to Folger’s.
