Recently I was at a friend’s house, Fox (news) was on. It was a late-night show. I was told it was more popular than all other late-night shows. When in Rome. I started watching. There were a few standout segments, but one segment about Starbucks stood higher.
They were discussing the story about Starbucks closing stores in areas on the West Coast. The Fox Host said it was due to Starbucks open door policy for bathroom use and an increase in crime and drug use in said bathrooms.
The host showed an article from a newspaper to discuss the Starbucks story. Which newspaper isn’t remembered. It was a story floating around on multiple news sites. These articles were seen earlier that week.
As the Fox commentators discussed the story, they were bragging about their lack of knowledge around the facts and information about it. It seemed as if the only information they had on the story was the title of the newspaper article.
There were a few minutes of discussion and comments on the story. It broke down to: How Starbucks’ liberal policies and need to have their bathrooms be non-gendered-open-to-everyone and woke policies put the employees at risk, harmed Starbucks and created an issue for Cops (with comments on liberal views about cops). The worst part being, now it was going to put mom and pop coffee shops at risk. Because all the “criminal drug addicts” were going to go the mom and pop shops and put those employees at risk. (Not my view, the commenters on Fox.). In summary: Starbucks’ “woke” policies put “mom and pop” coffee shops at risk.
My view:
Starbucks tried something. They looked at a situation that was happening nationally and said, “maybe this is a solution”. Instead of men’s washrooms and women’s washrooms, we’ll have “All gender” washrooms. No other label required. They were responding to a situation that happened in one of their stores. An issue that caused some backlash (Fox had many comments and views on that when it happened).
There are places on the West Coast, including where Starbucks is shutting down cafes, that are having increased issues with crime. This is a problem that needs to be addressed. So, Starbucks is making a choice to close stores because of this (Aldi’s is shutting down at least 2 stores in the Chicago area due to crime issues. That’s another topic and story, just saying Starbucks isn’t unique.)
Now, let’s say Starbucks did mess-up. Let’s say this is just a multi-billion-dollar corporation being overly liberal / sensitive and getting bit in the butt. So, they close. While it may be possible for those criminals to now relocate to mom-and-pop coffee shops, so can the customers and the employees. People still want coffee. They need somewhere to go.
Let’s say Starbucks is the horrible liberal mined place while providing free Wi-Fi and a table to sit at (again, Fox host comments), they are now no longer in the area. Shouldn’t that be celebrated? All that money will go to local businesses. Theoretically, those businesses do better and need to hire more employees. There just happens to be a bunch of unemployed baristas looking for work. Now, mom and pop shops have well trained employees to hire and more money to make. They can adjust their policies to learn from the “mistakes” Starbucks made. Not to mention, there’s one less place cops have to protect and can more easily help keep an eye on local businesses.
There was a failure to mention all the places Starbucks isn’t experiencing issues with this policy. I would say the issue isn’t Starbucks, but crime in certain areas. Starbucks trying to do right, didn’t cause crime. Crime in the area caused crime in the area (again, a much bigger issue and not the point of this writing). There is a minimum of six Starbucks within 15 minutes of where I live (not the point of this writing, but holy geez). All of them have non-gendered bathrooms. All of them I can walk into and sit down, with a drink I brought, and start reading, writing, chatting, chilling, watching. Heck, they’ll even fill my cup with hot water for free and I can add my own teabag (did you know that?). And none of them are shutting down. They are not dealing with crime in a way that may cause them to shut down soon.
Non-gendered bathrooms are not the issue. As got up and walked away from the TV that night sadness crept over me. Someone was laughing. The people on the TV were laughing. And, one can only assume, millions of other people were laughing in their homes. Being led to believe Starbucks, trying a thing, wasn’t doing the right thing (in the commenters opinions). That being decent and open and accepting and creating a space for a man or woman or a non-binary person or a how-ever-you-identify person to use whatever toilet was free is wrong. The Fox commenters saying, Starbucks creating a safe space, saying come sit (or stand) and feeling welcome here is wrong.
That’s how harm grows. That’s why I think the way I do. That’s why I don’t laugh at those I don’t agree with and sometimes don’t laugh at those I do agree with. Laughter is supposed to be a good thing. A thing that connects and unites us. Laughter is supposed to release stress. A moment of levity and calm. Not like that. I didn’t realize it until then, and one can only assume I’m very late to this understanding, but laughter can unite in a bad way.
As the title says, it’s about perspective. We can choose to see a few Starbucks closing as a kick to liberals, liberal policy, or however you choose to label it. Or we can see it as unfortunate to the area, to the rising crime, to the employees that are losing their jobs, to a Starbucks CEO that learns the wrong lesson, or make a harsh judgment call in light of feedback like those on Fox. Or we can see it as benefiting the other coffee shops in the area. Bringing more business to an area with one less mega brand. Or an opportunity to call attention to the crime in the area and the need to help. Or it can be a mix of all four, or the next four.
Whatever it is, all I can say is what was seen and heard on Fox that night didn’t seem right, feel right, or lead to a solution or insight.
A Better Father 