What sacrifice are you making for the war in Iraq? What sacrifice have we been asked to make by our government? What sacrifice have we been required to make by our government? Thank God Starbucks in Westfield NJ has taken this matter into their own hands!
I was browsing through the shops in downtown Westfield NJ last week. Westfield is a very affluent town about 30 mins from Manhattan. I'd never been to Westfield before. The downtown has some wonderful stores. Williams Sonoma, Coach, Banana Republic... It looks like the type of NJ town you would find Carmella Soprano looking for a new handbag. It's a charming downtown. The people who shop there seem to have lots of extra money to spend.
There is a middle aged woman talking on her cell phone in the Bombay store. She has a dress that is too short and too tight for her. Her deep tan looks fake to me, and she is speaking much to loudly in a thick NJ accent. I am in the back of the store and I can still hear her discussing a piece of furniture she is going to buy. She has little
regard for anyone around her, and seems oblivious that she is in public. Even her husband who is meekly at her side seems to be embarrassed. He should be, she is totally obnoxious, but seems to be typical of the residents of Westfield.
I leave the Bombay store and walk up Broad Street. I walk into Starbucks, not to buy coffee, but to use the bathroom. FYI: Starbucks have the best public bathrooms. Very clean and private. If you ever have to go, this is the place to do it. The coffeehouse was filled with Westvillians of all ages sipping 5 dollar lattes, or whatever it is they drink there.
I notice a large bin filled with bags of coffee. There is a sign over the bin that says something like "Support our Troops, send the Starbucks" with a Sharpee pen hanging over it. I look at the many bags laying there and I notice they are signed in the Sharpee Pens by the people who purchased them "Thank you for our Service" "You guys are our Heroes"
I then realize that these bags are going to be sent to the troops in Iraq. Starbucks is selling the coffee to the good people of Starbucks and is going to send it to the guys in Iraq. What a noble thing to do!
Several thoughts are going through my mind. One of them is "Why do soldiers in Iraq fighting in 120 degree weather want to drink Starbucks?"
Maybe they do want coffee.... That's might be true, but for the Billions of dollars a month we are spending... why doesn't they have as much coffee as they want?
Why is Starbucks making a profit off their customers to send coffee to the troops? Why doesnt Starbucks just send the damn coffee for FREE to the troops? And finally I think...
Is this the BEST sacrifice the people of Westfield can make for this war? Spending 12 dollars for a bag of overpriced coffee and writing some platitude on it? 12 dollars for these people is about as big a sacrifice for them as throwing a penny into a stream. They are making this HUGE sacrifice so they can feel GOOD about themselves. The fact that they believe they are ACTUALLY MAKING A SACRIFICE during this hideous war by buying this coffee seems totally and utterly obscene to me.
We have never had a War of this magnitude where we have not had a tax increases to pay for it. Who is benefiting most from these tax cuts? The people of Westfield are. They can afford the 12 dollar coffee.
Taxpayers with no health insurance and who work hard and do not have enough money to pay their mortgage are spending Billions of dollars a month for the war in Iraq. It's all being put on a credit card. The people of Westfield don't want to sacrifice TOO much.
There are Thousands of soldiers dead. These soldiers are mostly from lower income families, and mostly minorities.
Our government has not asked or insisted we sacrifice.
Thank God Starbucks has give the opportunity for the people of Westfield to make that sacrifice!
Frankly, I want to puke.