STARBUCKS: GIVE ME A VENTI, NO FOAM VANILLA LATTE, AND AN ATHEISTIC SLOGAN ON THE SIDE

While you stop by your local Starbucks weary, eyes blood shot and half awake, have you noticed the side of the cup you are sucking down like it is your life blood? Starbucks has printed reader supported little bits of philosophy on each one, labeled "The Way I See It."

Starbucks, on their web site, explains the notion this way: "Sparking conversation in the tradition of coffee houses everywhere, Starbucks has always supported a good, healthy discussion. To get people talking, “The Way I See It” is a collection of thoughts, opinions and expressions provided by notable figures that now appear on our widely shared cups.

Now some of these are completely folksy and saccharin, completely innocuous...For example,
A mature person is one who can say: My parents may have made some mistakes raising me, but they did the best they could: now it’s up to me. -- Shannon Fry Starbucks customer from Ann Arbor, Michigan.

And then there is the occasional professional, religious oriented message.....

You are not an accident. Your parents may not have planned you, but God did. He wanted you alive and created you for a purpose. Focusing on yourself will never reveal your purpose. You were made by God and for God, and until you understand that, life will never make sense. Only in God do we discover our origin, our identity, our meaning, our purpose, our significance, and our destiny. — Dr. Rick Warren, author of “The Purpose-Driven Life.”

Now, apparently to give equal time, here are two questionable messages...

Heaven is totally overrated. It seems boring. Clouds, listening to people play the harp. It should be somewhere you can’t wait to go, like a luxury hotel. Maybe blue skies and soft music were enough to keep people in line in the 17th century, but Heaven has to step it up a bit. They're basically getting by because they only have to be better than Hell. -- Joel Stein, columnist for the Los Angeles Times.

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. - Bill Scheel Starbucks customer from London, Ontario.

He describes himself as a "modern day nobody."

Personally, I like the concept. Putting the messages sent into their corporation as a starting point for conversation, whether they agree with the viewpoint or not. However, in my travels and visitations at numerous different Starbucks, and I do mean many; I have yet to hear any scintillating, or even thought provoking conversations. Just the insipid music they play, and their customers, normally perched with their laptops, alone, in silence, except for the chattering of keyboards. We don't open ourselves up anymore. We do not trust any stranger, or engage a stranger in conversation, most of the time not even a civil "good morning."

Are we turning into mindless drones?

Perhaps everyone at Starbucks should just Instant Messenger each other.

That at least, should be in their comfort zones.

And that is "The World According to Kimba"

Thanks for reading. atheistic