It's Not All About Starbucks

The events of the past week are ridiculous on so many levels that it's almost funny.

When I read Tweets about it, I had no idea what had happened - only that something shitty happened at a Starbucks in Philadelphia.  Being a scant 20 minutes from the location, I felt odd that I didn't know what was going on.  Well - we all know now, so there's no need to recap.

The finger was pointed at Starbucks, but the real finger should have been pointed at the Philadelphia police department and the individual who called them to quell the so-called disturbance.  You see, Starbucks owns and operates 19,300 locations in the United States alone, and singling-out one for some racist behavior (so they say) is both unfair and ridiculous. Whether or not the two men violated store policy by asking to use the rest room without purchasing anything is minor.  Refusing to leave is the issue, and the cops needed to be sensitive to the problem.  Arresting them was the worst-case scenario.

As it is with today's society, activists jumped on the story.  Partly because it involved two black men, and partly because there is a genuine hatred for Starbucks, akin to the Walmart hate and the Facebook hate.  It's hate, and when something happens to one of those hated franchises, activists are quick to jump on the bandwagon because it's fueled by the attitude of, "See, I told you they were horrible" idea that permeates big corporations in America.

The Big Picture, however, has been lost in the protests and the hate and the racism.  What is the Big Picture?

Pooping and peeing.

Yep.  That very thing that all of us do, and we have to either hide, hold in, or find a place to do it.  When we are out in public, the second thing that crosses our minds is, "Where can I pee?"  I put it second because there's probably something more important than that.  Otherwise, when we are out in public and do not have to pee, we feel like we dodged a bullet of sorts, because there isn't always a McDonald's, Wawa, or other such public place where one can dodge in and grab a quick rest room break without having to purchase a product or plead, "Can I PLEASE use your bathroom?"

It's odd, in this century, to have to worry about such a thing.  After all, it's the one (or two) things that all of us do - even though we don't like to talk about it.  We all pee and poop.  C'mon, America. Admit it.  And generally, we're happy to poop, because it's one less thing we have to think about.  There's nothing quite like a good bowel movement, and the older you get, the more you appreciate it.

It's not like we can duck behind a building or run into a back alley, drop our zipper (men) and pee someplace.  In today's world, there's a camera posted that will likely run your public pee video on YouTube for all to see.

So yes, the issue isn't Starbucks, or racism, or the cops, or whatever else you want to march against.  The issue is public rest rooms, and why there aren't more of them, given the fact that it's the only thing we really need when we're out someplace.

If you want to protest something, start there.