Seriously,… #ItsJustACup

If you have followed my blogs or know anything about me, you’re aware that it takes a lot to upset me.
A friend of mine and I were talking a few days ago about how we’re “laid back” and then we decided that we’re not really all that laid back, we just choose our battles wisely. Life is too short to waste it angry over the things that are out of our control.

I’m also not one to let social media posts or even the news bother me, unless it’s something about a sad, helpless animal, child or old human, but even then, I am pretty good at just moving forward without it consuming my time or energy. I’d rather focus my energy on positive things in life and things that are in my control.

Yesterday, I woke up with a smile on my face. The thermostat said that it was 68 degrees in my house and my smile got a little bigger. I was singing to the tunes of Of Monsters and Men, Florence + The Machine, and of course, Taylor Swift, while getting ready for work. I quickly ate some yogurt and a banana and went on my way.

If you follow me or know me, you also know that I love, love, love my job. My office is full of toys, games, coloring books and a big fluffy chair that sits next to a big fluffy couch.

After my first visit, my patient’s mother walked into my office. She walked in with a cup of coffee from Starbucks. I noticed the new color of bright red and smiled at the thought of the holidays coming up. A little over 5 months ago, I finally gave up drinking coffee. I really never enjoyed the taste, oh but the flavor of caramel or french vanilla creamer that I used with way too much sugar to mention was delightful. When I mentioned that I should go get some hot chocolate at lunch time because it was that cold in my office, she asked me if I’ve heard the controversy around the new cup color. When I told her that I hadn’t, she was too eager to sit there giving me her opinion and sharing her disgust at how people were reacting to the color of the cup, which, by the way, is red, and isn’t red the color of Christmas?

Are you just as confused as I am?

As soon as I had a few moments to spare, I logged in to social media, because let’s be honest, that’s a great resource to find out what’s going on in the world.

I would love to say that during my research about this new red cup at Starbucks that I found so many loving comments from people all over. I would love to say that CNN was showing a clip of a pastor saying how much he believes that Starbucks loves everyone. I would love to say that there was an outcry of support on every single news station around the globe for Starbucks and the new cup.

That’s what I wish that I could say.

The truth isn’t as pretty and full of sunshine and rainbows. There have been hundreds of thousands of tweets, some extremely angry, over the past 5 days. I had read that one person isn’t going to even drive by a Starbucks anymore “in fear of God burning them for eternity.” 67% of the comments regarding the new design have been negative. 5% could care less either way.

Here’s my thought….

The average American spends $780 a year on Starbucks. If 67% of them stop drinking coffee, where is that money going to go? Are you going to donate it to Goodwill, or to the American Cancer Society, or the a fund for Veterans and their families? Are you going to start using the time that you’d be spending in line at Starbucks to do volunteer work or spending more time with your family?

The fact that anyone is concerned over the color and design of a coffee cup not representing God or Christmas really offends me. It really upsets me that every single time I get on social media or turn on CNN, it’s mentioned once again. 5 days! For 5 days, you’ve put more energy into a cup that is going into the trash when it’s finished serving it’s purpose than you will ever spend on loving or sharing a sandwich with a stranger or playing a game of Bridge at the local retirement home or playing go fish with your children.

I don’t want you to love a cup. I want you to love people.

If we, as society as a whole could put this much energy into helping the broken, the lost and unloved, imagine what we could do.

Please don’t love a cup. Don’t waste your energy. Please put it where it is needed and spread the love that this beautiful earth needs so desperately.

JMS