Tomorrow, Tomorrow...

Excerpted from a Facebook chat with my friendly neighborhood chaplain-in-training (C-i-T) tonight:

FbL: Hi! Guess what I'm doing tomorrow... *wink*

C-i-T: You're probably going flying with Lex, aren't you?

FbL: *grin* *grin* *grin* Psychic!

C-i-T: you totally suck

FbL: Ah, such love and acceptance from the chaplain-in-training! I'm gonna report you!

C-i-T: have I told you how much you suck?

FbL: ROFL

C-i-T: cuz you suck

FbL: LMAO

C-i-T: suck suck suckety suck suck

FbL: Bwahahahahahaha

FbL: You make me laugh so hard I cough! Not nice! :P

C-i-T: maybe you should get an egg

C-i-T: SO YOU CAN SUCK IT!!!!

FbL: LMAO!

FbL: Thanks, I needed to laugh today.

C-i-T: Oh hey, I have a joke for you

FbL: what?

C-i-T: Knock Knock

FbL: Hehe. I can see this one coming... who's there?

C-i-T: YOU SUCK!!!

FbL: At least you're predictable... :P

C-i-T: Now i'm laughing

[boring conversation redacted]

FbL: They said I'll be flying against a guy from Italy. Should I be nice to that famous Italian machismo?

C-i-T: not at all

FbL: Let him win one?

C-i-T: heck no!

Well, what do you expect from a former Marine? Something like, "You can take the Chaplain out of the Marines, but..." comes to mind.

I suppose I'll have to let the Italian win one fight. I mean, he IS a guest and all...

UPDATE: Yes, famous last words. I'll probably make a fool of myself... Either way, I'm sure it'll be fun!

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Something Right with the World

Sometimes good people DO get what they deserve.

After three miscarriages in as many years (including while husband was deployed), army wife extraordinaire Sarah delivered a healthy baby girl, with hubby fresh from Afghanistan but at her side.

There are not words...

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A Profile in Courage

There have unfortunately been a couple times in my life where I've been through wrenching emotion and out-of-body grief that seemed to liquidate my insides and leave me physically spent for days. But I never had to perform in front of millions when it happened...

Joannie Rochette unexpectedly lost her dearly-beloved mother two days before taking the ice at the Winter Olympics. How she found the mental discipline to shove the overwhelming pain back into a box for the duration of her program, I'll never know:

(video of her performance here)

Her spirit took her where her body couldn't go--note the opening exchange with her coach, then watch how she slows down in the closing minute but still doesn't make an error; after two days of gut-wrenching grief her body has only so much adrenaline to put forth in climbing the mountain of Olympic competition, but her spirit keeps her upright.

And when it's over, she crumbles and is then buoyed by her coach and her countrymen in the crowd. A lesson in love.

Why do I post about a woman I don't know, a woman simply competing in sport? Linda Holmes explains:

The end of her performance is perhaps the part I recognized the most: as soon as it's over and she's done, she again bursts into tears after holding it off the whole time. I know so many people who have been there, including me -- you hold it together all day until you walk through the door of your house and push it shut; you're fine until you get in the car and find yourself alone with the road; you're okay until somebody says, "Are you okay?" and then: sobs.

And I thought of people I know who do that today... of the people carrying on through this war with tears in their eyes, pain in their hearts... and steel in their spines.

Yes, it's "just a sport," and it's "just a (possible) medal." But as is the case with the best of sport, it's also more--it's about humanity and our incredible ability to hold each other up and overcome.

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Heartbreaking

Beyond having read of him as a hero of Fallujah and author of a powerful book about the battle, it was this that secured David Bellavia a spot in my memory.

The part of the film that stuck with me was David Bellavia talking about the response he received from parents of the children's soccer team he was coaching when his book about the first Battle of Fallujah came out. The parents were horrified to discover the violent things Bellavia had done while fighting in Fallujah; they acted as if they expected his capacity for lethal violence would burst out again at any moment [and endanger them all].

As Bellavia points out, the parents' responses are indicative of the discomfort many civilians feel with what warriors do in wartime, and how that affects their interactions with and opinion of veterans.

Now he's talking about the proper response that he and his fellow veterans of Iraq aren't getting...

The ones that hold my contempt are those who, even today, know of the sacrifice made, the incredible progress gained and still will not acknowledge what was won on the ground in Iraq. They cheapen the sacrifice of how it was earned. Operation Iraqi Freedom is no more.

Operation New Dawn (the exact same name of the Battle of Fallujah in November 2004) is the new name of the deployment to Iraq.

What we achieved in the face of an implacable enemy, overcoming many in our own government willfully ignorant of our struggle, is what I believe to be the defining moment of my generation. The veteran today is the embodiment of what it means to be an American. Even when our valor was used for political sport, we continued to serve quietly.

...As the pages turn, so does the dispositions on the faces in the pictures. The exhaustion of combat has replaced the frolic; dead-eyed stares in place of jovial laughter. We lost far too many men during our war in Iraq. Then the unit returned for a second deployment, and the number spiked to more than seventy.

...I came home expecting to find the sacrifice of these brave patriots revered at every turn by those who overwhelmingly sent us to war from Washington.

You know the result of that expectation, but this is truly a case of read it all. As one commenter mentions, this is what I have struggled to explain to the clueless.

Postscript: I remember talking last spring to someone who was working toward holding a Victory-in-Iraq parade in July. He lamented that he couldn't seem to galvanize many people to action, even among the most ardent and active troop supporters. I told him I was very sorry to say that though they deserved a parade, I thought the political realities ensured nothing but bad could come from it. I hugged him repeatedly with tears in my eyes, knowing where his heart was as a Vietnam veteran.

Is indifference better than contempt?

Update: Lex says it perfectly (why am I not surprised?). "Their reward, it seems, will be no punishment."

[H/T: Powerline]

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Clank

I was multitasking at the USO today. Local Marines had gotten a few days of leave from infantry training and taken full advantage, making the airport a busy place as they returned to their duty stations.

My secondary task was to find a picture of Marines in Marjah that could inspire the homefront to think of and remember the fighting there. And so, sitting at the reception desk, I sifted through pictures like this:

A Marine with Weapons Platoon, Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, affixes a mortar round to his pack before a helicopter-borne assault to seize the "Five Points" intersection east of the insurgent stronghold of Marjeh... Some Marines carried more than their body weight during the assault. Photo by Sgt. Brian Tuthill.

And this:

Lance Cpls. Keith B. Lawson and Spence G. Press, scout snipers attached to Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, work together to identify targets as Taliban fighters approach from Marjeh toward their position... Lawson, 25, is from Reedly, Calif., and Press, 20, is from Newbury Park, Calif. Photo by Sgt. Brian Tuthill.

And some like this...

Cpl. Alton S. Floyd, a wrecker operator for Alpha Company, 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, rests after working to build multiple makeshift bridges in Marjah, Helmand province, Afghanistan, Feb. 11. During the construction of their last bridge, Alpha Company encountered an improvised explosive device, no Marines were injured. Floyd, 25, is from Atlanta, Ga. Photo by Lance Cpl. Walter Marino.

And in between the discovery of each picture, I was fulfilling my primary task...

Every time time I looked up from my search, I'd see a young man standing in front of me: broad-shouldered and hard from weeks of rigorous School of Infantry training, strong and tall and buoyantly confident in the way only young Marines untouched by the implications of their service can be. I laughed and joked with them as they signed in, softening the formality of asking for ID by teasingly telling them I had to check because they didn't look a bit like Marines. Most of them smiled and laughed right back.

They were stuffed with food from Mom's, or from their buddy's aunt who lived a short plane ride away and had taken in a couple Marines for the weekend (and had probably been surprised to find out how much Marines formerly living on MREs could eat). Not an inch of fat on them, but they were "fat and happy" nonetheless.

They were the younger brothers of the Marjah Marines.

And I moved back and forth between here and there...

USO: A friendly greeting... smiles... sandwiches from the Rotary Club

Marjah: Waiting... wondering... fear

USO: Comforts of the modern life... peace... safety

Marjah: 7th century... bullets... explosions

USO: a rest stop between practicing

Marjah: the real thing.

Re-immersed in the pictures, I would once again look up to greet another young warrior halfway through his training, and feel that clank of worlds bumping up against other.

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Treats

It all started mid-January when I spotted boxes of Christmas-themed brownie mix at Big Lots for $1 each.

Take regular brownies, add a pack of read and green sprinkles and suddenly you have Christmas Brownies! Or rather, remove the pack of sprinkles and you have regular old, delicious brownies perfect for any time of the year at $1 a pan. I had a USO shift at the airport the next day, so it was the perfect excuse to bake without the danger of brownies laying around the house for a week--as if they'd last that long!

And then I had a brainstorm... I took the box of plain old brownie mix and threw in a few tablespoons of sipping chocolate and a handful of walnuts. Oh my!

Well, once I start baking it's hard to stop. So that same night I made Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies. I couldn't resist a little change there, and threw in some nutmeg. And then I made Chewy Molasses Spice Cookies. I actually followed the recipe on those! Oh, they were good!

The next day at the USO, the director took one bite of the fudgy, chewy brownies and looked at me in astonishment before realizing his reaction wasn't necessarily a compliment.

"You bake?" he asked. I reminded him that I'd brought sugar cookies to the USO Christmas Party.

"Well, I knew you cooked, but... These are amazing! Do people know you can make things like this? I mean, that you cook so well?"

I shrugged with a bit of amusement. "I guess so. I mean, it's not a secret, or anything... I like to cook and bake and I'm pretty good at it."

He jumped in again, his reactions once again ahead of his brain. He looked me up and down appraisingly and said in a thoughtful voice, "You really need to make sure people know about this. You know, guys li--- I mean, umm... It's true what they say about... Umm... Wow, you really are a great cook!"

I laughed as I realized what was going on in his head. This was the same retired Marine who two weeks after meeting me had asked with genuine curiosity, in the middle of a conversation about combat psychology, why I hadn't found myself "a good Marine officer to marry," and whose wife offered to set me up for the next party the local general threw.

"Men's hearts and stomachs, huh?" I said sardonically, trying to let him off the hook. He's a good man, and rather fatherly toward me in a usually light-handed way.

He had the grace to look a little chagrined, but plowed ahead. "It's true. You have no idea how much that means. This is a valuable skill you've got."

We walked out of the kitchen together as I thanked him for his compliments and he blurted out after a moment, "I really don't understand why--" Fortunately his brain caught up with him, but we both knew what he had been about to say. I lightened it up by joking, "You know what the problem is? I'm a vegetarian; I don't cook meat. Can't get a man's attention without a some steak on the table, you know..."

You'd think that would've let me off the hook, but no. As a Southerner, he then proceeded to insist I was wrong and list all the yummy foods made without meat: grits, hush puppies, fried green tomatoes, collard greens, etc, etc.

What can you say? I just laughed and rolled my eyes at him.

We got to the desk and my fellow volunteers informed me all the guys were talking about the brownies and cookies I had brought. "See?" the director said. "I told you."

"Yeah, and they're all 10-15 years younger than me. My talents obviously are wasted here," I said with a prima dona air. "I never should've made them." That brought a laugh all around, and finally put a merciful close to the conversation.

Well, it's time to take the last batch of cookies out of the oven for tomorrow. Chewy Molasses Spice again. I already made the brownies.

Maybe I should consider becoming a cougar...

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Words have Meaning

Buried in a political polemic is something sadly profound about one of the many things that separate "elites" from the rest of us.

Mark Steyn discusses the newly-elected Senator Scott Brown's truck in the middle of an article about President Obama's use of words and his astonishingly high number of speeches in the last year:

The truck wasn’t just any old prop but a very particular kind: “In some places, there are codes, there are images,” [Newsweek editor Harold Fineman] told MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann. “You know, there are pickup trucks you could say there was a racial aspect to it one way or another.”

...Whenever aspiring writers ask me for advice, I usually tell ’em this:

Don’t just write there, do something. Learn how to shingle a roof, or tap-dance, or raise sled dogs. Because if you don’t do anything, you wind up like Obama and Fineman — men for whom words are props and codes and metaphors but no longer expressive of anything real.

As I've watched my elders continue to struggle with the racism they learned in their early years, I can usually understand their angst at least a little bit. But hearing Fineman last week say that pickup trucks were racial code truly made me laugh aloud. It's so utterly absurd, a Rorshach test that says so much more about Fineman than about the truck itself.

The older I get, the more aware I am of what divides us. And in this case, how little it seems I and the people I know have in common with someone like Fineman...

But Steyn knows the remedy for such silliness: do something. If you've only got words to play with and never dip into the real and substantial of life, reality can begin to warp. Such people tend to wrap themselves in the insubstantial effervescence of words, living in a world of their own creation rather than the one that stares them in the face. Their world becomes a place where words--and by extension the things and beings they truly do represent/embody--are merely pawns in service to the users' goals and desires.

"Words, just words," said President Obama during the campaign...

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Tragic

As woman who had no man in the house from age 11 onward, this makes me unbelievably sad:

"Going the sperm-bank method is definitely not my first choice, but I am not willing to give up my dream of having a child just because I can't find Mr. Right.

As a single woman barreling into the steep back end of my childbearing years with no husband in sight, I am not indifferent to the desire for a child. But unlike the single woman described above, I am also not indifferent to the needs of a child for a father in the house.

To grow up without a good father who is under the same roof as the child and available for both quality and quantity time (quality moments don't happen on a schedule) is a tragedy. To purposefully create such a tragedy (in order to meet one's own emotional needs!) is immoral.

As the article briefly mentions, adoption is another option. Adopting a child who would suffer and die in another country, or an older child who is not as readily-adopted as an infant/toddler, is a noble act--to have a loving mother without a loving father is far preferable to having no family at all. But I have the terrible suspicion that the majority of women taking the adoption route are looking for a spot in the line of people waiting for newborns.

When I read articles about this problem, I always hear a chant running through them: "Me, me, me... I, I, I."

I try to be sympathetic here, and I DO understand--the call to reproduce is both biological and emotional. I think of my own father and the impact I know he had on me for the few years he was in my life, and I would love to have a baby who shared his lineage and on whom I could bestow the rich heritage he gave me. And I would love to experience the joys Sarah writes about so beautifully.

But at the expense of the child who wouldn't even exist were I not intentionally bringing him or her into the world to meet my needs while suffering the absence of a father?

Empathy is at war with judgment, but how can there ever be justification for such self-centered cruelty?

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BDS Lives!

...in the realm of sports, at least.

This morning I scanned a discussion of the Philadelphia Eagles' pathetic playoff performance against the [boo... hiss!] Dallas Cowboys yesterday. Got to the bottom of the article and found this most-recent comment:

whoooduh (1/10/2010 at 7:45 AM)

cowboy hyped ... i bet the eagles were told to lose by jerry's pals ... bush and the secret service ... god i hate the cowboys

Me too, but I tend to have a slightly stronger grip on reality.

Although... the Bushes were in attendance at the game... Bwahahahahaha!

P.S. Go, Chargers!

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Insanity?

Sometimes I honestly think a frighteningly large number of people "out there" are absolutely nuts.

Let's get it out of the way: I'm a Christian Pastor's daughter. Me, I'm not the type to publicly encourage people to convert to Christianity, but I wouldn't believe in it if I didn't think it was the best way to live my life--not because of a promise of heaven (whatever heaven actually is), but because I believe the precepts of Christianity make for a better life both today and in the life to come. If I truly believe that, would I not want others to believe similarly... with the thought that it would make their lives better?

With that in mind, would I be offended if someone suggested to me that their (different) religion would be of benefit to me in a challenge I'm facing? No! Assuming they follow their chosen path with conviction and devotion, I would take their suggestion as a generous mark of caring/concern, even if I rejected it. Frankly, I'd expect at least a broaching of the subject in any friendship within which our religions were very disparate--such as Christianity and Buddhism or Christianity and Islam, for example--ending in an agreement to disagree.

Though brought up in a conservative religious environment, I was taught that as fallible beings we were in frequent danger of misunderstanding God or failing to see what he was trying to teach us; our best effort was required to learn/understand, but ultimately we had to be humble enough to accept the possibility of error even while attempting to follow what we believed was right. We could be blinded by ego, by experience, even by a personality that might naturally be resistant or attracted to certain teachings. In other words, not being all-knowing, we could never be entirely sure of our choices.

Thus it was vital we use conscience and intellect in choosing a religious practice, but we should never look down on kind folks who had come to different conclusions. My father himself spent a lot of time talking to and learning from people of other religions because in doing so he tested his understanding and conviction in his own beliefs (it made him a better Christian because in being challenged he had to decide whether or not he really believed what he claimed to, and whether it all made sense).

A commenter at Hot Air said it beautifully:

I have been an ardent Buddhist and still love many of it traditions and technologies of the mind. And I am not a Christian. But I do understand what Hume was emphasizing. Even the Buddha taught that you had to provide the correct medicine for the current affliction of the mind. For someone who has so sullied his reputation and life, Tiger Woods really could use a hearty dose of Christian forgiveness, redemption and healing and usually this comes only by entering the Christian faith. Buddhists should not be too attached to Buddhism; it sometimes is the wrong medicine. The Passion of the Christ, the drama of the resurrection from Death is sometimes the best and only way to renew ones life.

As a Christian who was taught that one is either Christian or not--no fence-straddling, I don't relate to the the kind of religious flexibility the commenter displays ("Buddhists should not be too attached to Buddhism"), but I share his/her belief that the uniqueness of each individual affects that individual's religious experience.

That there are people out there who find this commenter's and my father's engagement in religious exploration and polite challenge/analysis offensive continues to surprise and confuse me.

Was Brit Hume wise to use a public forum to suggest someone convert to a particular religion? Probably not (the ensuing outrage was predictable). Was it offensive or rude? Not the way he phrased it, no. Or rather, only offensive to those who whose faith (verb) or faith (noun) are so fragile that the idea some people think them incorrect is enough to destroy a believer's worldview.

This is in line with the same silliness in which extremist islamists) threaten to kill people for "un-islamic" behavior (how can unbelievers' unbelief damage your own belief if you think your religion is the right one???), and something I honestly do not understand.

Yes, it's an emotional topic (one of the reasons Hume was perhaps unwise to bring it up), but have we truly become so PC that to acknowledge we've made judgments in our own lives is taboo?

I'd think the problem is a lack of humility about oneself and one's own beliefs, a lack of the humility that was modeled to me as a child... except I'd think religious pride/confidence would make the believer feel LESS threatened and offended by challenge, not moreso...

Are they all really that insecure?

I could see it as a matter of very proper manners, maybe: offense is taken at broaching such a personal subject in a public forum. But then the response Hume has received would belie the valuing of such careful manners...

I honestly don't understand it.

I CAN understand it on a case-by-case basis as insecurity or a personality that doesn't allow for challenge (I am right and you're wrong!), or as a cover for some sort of "issue" the threatened person can't cope with (i.e., "I despise myself, but being right in my religion gives me value and justification for being alive, so how dare you suggest I don't have the most correct religion!").

But I see no corporate/society-wide explanation... other than that the paragraph above is an accurate representation of what is driving the hysterical response to Hume.

If so, they're all genuinely nuts.

I suggest therapy so that they can get their heads on straight, learn to be kind to people different than them, and develop some self-confidence in their own choices.

Good grief, people!

[The above was written at 11 p.m. on a screen viewed through barely-open eyes, so take it for what it's worth.]

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I Love Americans

Jonn Lilyea said that seeing so many Americans welcoming his son home from Afghanistan "brought tears to my wife’s eyes and it was hard for this old infantryman to hold my own back. Still."

Just reading about the work of Operation Welcome Home Maryland in the Baltimore Sun brought tears to mine (read it all, and note the faces in the picture accompanying the article).

The volunteers of OP Welcome Home Maryland are another terrific example of the beautiful grassroots, can-do spirit of American generosity that sees a need and acts to fill it.

Hats off to the patriots of Operation Welcome Home Maryland!

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Getting Old?

Perhaps this is just a function of age and the truth that wisdom only comes paired with an accumulation of years (no, I know I've only accumulated less than half of my expected years), but a couple of interesting things came together for me this evening...

Cassandra wrote a wonderful post about personal responsibility, politics, government and marriage. And no, I doubt you can guess her point--or even her subject--from that list of topics. As with everything Cassandra posts, it's well worth your time.

We put too much faith in institutions. I think we do this because we get used to them, and because depending on someone or something else is much easier than holding ourselves accountable all the time. It's much easier than taking responsibility for our own happiness; than facing the strong likelihood that we're (as my friend spd so trenchantly put it once) responsible for at least half of every disappointment we encounter in life.

Of course, she's right. But usually when I think of aversion to personal responsibility, I chalk it up to a desire to avoid the consequences ("It's not my fault that ______! I'm a victim!"), or just plain laziness ("If it's my fault, then I have to ________ to fix it"). Today I realized there's another reason to avoid accepting responsibility...

I had a very personal epiphany not too long ago that has changed many things about how I view myself (and by extension, the rest of the world). It's been a very good thing, but it also has made me look back at certain moments and times in my life with a bit of sadness. Today's vision means I can see the missed opportunities and the self-imposed wounds of the past (as well as forgive myself for some of the mistakes--as I think back to certain of those moments and recognize that AT THAT TIME I probably wasn't capable of understanding or seeing my options any differently). But I find it all so frustrating! So amazing to see how much of those moments--even when I truly was a victim of circumstances--were shaped by my response to them. In some cases, I doubt any response could've "fixed things," but at other times my responses (no matter how considered before acting) made things worse.

I've always understood the idea of "If I knew then what I know now." I've just never felt it so acutely.

And so I wonder if part of our reluctance to accept personal responsibility is that there's a great deal of disappointment in accepting the truth that we weren't as smart or clear-headed as we'd like to think we were back when... and a great deal of fear in accepting that today we aren't as smart or clear-headed as we'll hopefully be tomorrow.

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Writing Roundup

These titles tickled my funny bone when I encountered them recently...

From The Campaign Spot: Ah Yes, That Dainty, Sensitive, Dovish Dick Cheney We've Heard So Much About -- never thought I'd see those adjectives in a discussion about our former Vice President!

Also from The Campaign Spot: Americans Begin to Learn 'Change' is Not a Synonym for 'Improvement' -- better late than never...

From Neptunus Lex: Smearing Jocks -- It wasn't until I re-encountered that title a day after I read it that I realized Lex was being clever. What can I say? I'm neither male nor an athlete, so that initially went right over my head. What else can I say? "Gross!!!"

From New Scientist: Sex and Shopping -- It's a Guy Thing -- The article is actually broader than that, covering both male and female activities and preferences when in a dating/mating frame of mind. Very interesting to see the differences between the sexes in display behaviors... and more proof that despite feminist ideals, there are certain things that seem to be hard-wired in most of us.

These didn't tickle my funny bone, but I thought you might appreciate them...

Proof that Anything Can be Deep-fried -- Have your cholesterol meds handy while you read drool.

The Top 10 Conservative Movies of the Last Decade -- I don't watch enough movies to give my opinion on the list, but I've seen a couple of similar lists recently, and have been struck by the realization that one thing sets these lists apart from the critics' more general lists of best movies of the decade/year: almost every one of the conservative movies was extremely well-received by the movie-going public. My quick and casual explanation is that conservative movies tend to feature themes that speak to the heart and dreams of humanity: triumph over adversity, success amid challenge, courage/heroism/sacrifice, self-sufficiency, redemption, and good versus evil. I probably haven't thought it through enough, but it seemed interesting...

Lessons of a Weekend of Free Health Care -- A fascinating and heart-rending article. Fascinating because it's an AP story that actually gets into the real reasons these people either don't receive adequate health care (none of which the recent congressional actions address), or why they are sick in the first place. The stories of the 5% of people who truly have no other options are both tear-jerking and inspiring, as are the good hearts trying to help them.

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Chickens

Victor Davis Hanson outlines the roost potential for 2010.

Need anything to keep you awake tonight?

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Politics Can Get You Killed...

...If you're in the 5/2 Strykers.

Greyhawk has the details. Short version: You take a group of soldiers superbly-prepared for urban warfare in Iraq, decide at the last minute that for "optics" they should be deployed to Afghanistan while another brigade's deployment is quietly stepped up to fill the gap created in Iraq units... and soldiers in that formerly-superbly-prepared group are killed at alarming rates.

No, you didn't misread that. It's simply a collection of verifiable, undeniable facts.

I keep thinking of Lady MacBeth... but I sadly I doubt the people responsible for this are suffering the pangs she did.

These days the phrase "God help us" often echoes earnestly in my mind on topics of national importance. In this case: God help those soldiers. One of them is my "adopted" soldier, and six weeks ago he was moved to assist the company of the 5/2 that has suffered the highest KIA rate of them all...

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Finding Meaning in the Bottom of a Coffee Cup

...Apparently, there are people out there who've been doing that for quite awhile and are just devastated to find that their discovered meaning is actually as empty as the coffee cup itself.

It [Starbucks] brought us exotic places and sounds, exposed us to an underground in the safety of a cushy seat: teaching us about places where our coffee came from, and new music and literary voices. It tried to be our cultural guide and helped us feel good about our environmental footprint through its green campaigns and aid to farmers, even if Starbucks did little and we did nothing but buy coffee. It did so consciously, purposefully manipulating our desires, hopes and aspirations, all the while making us feel good about ordering up a venti soy latte.

But, we also knew, on some level, that it was all a delusion we actively participated in. “Starbucks worked as a simulacrum,” Simon writes, “it stamped out the real essence of the original idea of the coffee house and, through proliferation and endless insistence, became itself the real thing for many bobo and creative types.” Even as we believed we were being individuals, demonstrating our sense of style, we were just following the javaman’s master plan.

As Grim says, "Good lord, people."

The above is from a review of the new book, Everything but the Coffee: Learning about America from Starbucks. The first reviewer on Amazon adds some additional insight:

As the author states in the Afterword[...] "I stopped seeing the company as an engine of community. Instead, I saw it as a mythmaker offering only an illusion of belonging...." What the reader will find is a well-written, well-researched work that will be an eye opening experience for those who have loved or hated Starbucks. Eric Schlosser's "Fast food Nation" opened the first decade of the 21st Century with an expose of McDonalds and the fast food industry. Bryant Simon ends the decade with a dissection of Starbucks and the abdication of consumer responsibility.

In other words, as so beautifully illustrated in the first quote, a certain type of people bought into Starbucks as something other than a company offering a good product in a manner that carved out a great niche for itself:

It offers what it claims is premium coffee, at a premium price. It offers you the chance to 'upgrade' your purchase by allowing you to buy 'fair trade' coffee. Some people want to do that, so they find themselves with a niche market, and they make a good living. Meanwhile, you buy the coffee (and, perhaps, the good feelings) you want.

What's the hypocrisy? Starbucks is making you a fair offer; you're free to accept or reject it.

I shared this all in conversation with my mother and she pointed out that the coffee is "good," the people serving it usually do a great job (and are friendly and speedy--all employees are part-owners), and you can get it exactly how you want it--in its seemingly infinite variations... all in a pleasant and clean environment in locations around the world amenable to people-watching, business over a cup of a coffee, or computer time with free wireless. In other words, a nice product well-delivered. That people took it to be more than that is a riot. Such pretension! I think the author and various reviewers are accurate in pointing out that some people believed drinking Starbucks coffee helped them meet their self-imposed social/environmental obligations, willfully ignoring the reality that Starbucks coffee is ultimately a consumer product no different than clothes or cars, and that the company is going to be run on basic capitalist principles.

One thing that jumped out in the first link above is the reviewer's use of "we." It definitely rubbed me (and Grim's commenters) the wrong way. It's amusing to think that people who bought the illusion are so sure they're typical middle-American types and that the rest of us see things just the way they do. I wouldn't presume to speak for all of middle-America; why do they?

In truth, they aren't middle class/middle America; they're elitists. I know there are people who DO think like that, but I--as a person steeped and currently smack-dab in the middle class life--don't personally know anybody of my class who goes to Starbucks for reasons of morality or social responsibility. They go (as my mother pointed out) because it's a good product delivered in a way/environment they enjoy. The morality aspects--when they do come up among the Starbucks fans I've encountered--are always secondary or tertiary; It's always, "I love their coffee, and isn't it cool that they ________, too?!"

I keeping thinking of that old line: "People who believe in nothing will believe in anything." I am convinced that people are "wired" to find meaning in their lives. Deprive them of the primary bonds of family, religion, community, and a cohesive moral/ethical philosophy (all of which are solid organizing schema for finding meaning in one's life) ... and they'll conjure something out of thin air to fill that gaping hole inside them. That they chose a successful corporation to fill their need to believe the choice of coffee had deep meaning and impact is sadly ironic.

Funny that of all topics that should bring me out of blogging retirement, it's coffee--which I don't really care for and is a non-military topic. Although come to think of it... I don't believe the military could function without its ration of coffee. So see, I AM milblogging again! ;)

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Mistreatment of a Milblogger

It's been way too long since I posted, but I wanted to lend my support this.

The school district has been slanderous, and CJ's chain of command has been pathetic by not telling the school district to go pound sand when they complained about him.

The whole story here.

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Happy Thanksgiving!

May you and yours have much to be thankful for, despite the worries and hardships of this last year!

Me? I'm going to ignore those worries and focus on my many blessings--a loving family, a comfortable home, a job that brings me joy along with the flexibility to make my own hours (even when it makes me nuts!), friends and the technology to stay in touch with them across the miles.

And even more than most years, I am indescribably grateful for those whose courage and sacrifice* have given me a safe and peaceful space to enjoy all of the above.

*Yes, that's a series of six actual posts by FbL (shock!). That's one more thing I'm thankful for--the opportunity John gives me to post where more than my two readers will see my electronic scribbles. ;)

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It's On!

For my two remaining readers...

Why have I been AWOL? Part of it is this: It's Valour-IT Competition Time!

I'm remaining neutral this year, but Cassandra of the Marine Team says it all so beautifully, regardless of which team you want to join:

Please open your hearts and your wallets. Dig deep. These are some extraordinary young men and women - they've given their all in service of this great nation and this is a great chance to show them that all the talk of supporting the troops isn't just lip service. Not everyone in America is at the Mall.

So, what are you waiting for?! It's all right here.

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I Haven't Finished Learning How to Fly

One man talks about why he flies...

More here.

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