Monday, February 28, 2005

this starbucks cup befuddles me

Corrie writes of her embarrassment at being moved by a "Way I See It" quote on the side of a Starbucks cup. Me, I wish I had such troubles. Instead, all I get from the side of my Starbucks cup is confusion. For one thing, at least 80% of the time I get a drink from Starbucks, it seems like I get Way I See It #2:



For another, I don't get what this cup is trying to argue. I read the first sentence and think, "Sure, if a kid goes to preschool and doesn't learn anything, it's the preschool's fault, or maybe the parents', but not the kids. If there is a blame the preschooler movement out there, it needs to be stopped." Then I read the second sentence and think, "I suppose that could be the fault of bad preschools, but wouldn't you think that at least 30% of kids don't even go to preschool?" And then I read the third sentence and think, "I thought we were talking about preschools." And then I read the fourth and think, "Is the idea that we are supposed to send all kids to preschool?" Really, I don't get it.

If anyone does, explain it to me. Otherwise, I'll just presume that at least this post provides a comment space for various mystery commenters who may or may not all be the same person. I guess I can also throw in a concluding sentence where I help move a fellow Madisonian up the TTLB food chain (see sidebar) by providing seventeen more Tom Bozzo links here. (Thanks to Oscar for providing Bozzo links in compressed and easy to copy-and-repost format.)

Postscript: If you are wondering how Lieberman got the Starbucks cup gig in the first place, look no further than the first name on the list of the Board of Directors of the Jumpstart organization that he founded. Whither the mocha meritocracy?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wonder how the older generation ever made it through college without the benefit of pre-school and kindergarten to lay the foundations of learning. How deprived we have been! My parents could have used the free daycare provided by pre-school. Sigh.

Anonymous said...

I agree...it makes no sense whatsoever. You'd think a "literacy advocate" would be capable of making a clear point. Also, why on earth is Starbucks putting these statements on their cups and then providing a disclaimer that those views and opinions are not those of Starbucks. I mean, it's not like this person paid Starbucks to put this inane quote on their cup.

Anonymous said...

I'm just wondering if LDM is gone forever or what.

Anonymous said...

I was just wondering if LDM is gone forever or what?

Anonymous said...

At my local Starbucks there is a rack with a bunch of brochures (employment applications, brochures about how Starbucks is a great/environmental/corporately repsonsible company, etc.) One of them is a form through which you can submit your own "Way I See It" musings. You mail your prose to the mocha meritocracy c/o the Starbucks HQ and maybe, someday, your latte comes with your own words.

jnsys said...

I would have to agree that, if I drank Starbucks coffee, which I don't, even though I pass one nearly everyday inside my local grocery store, I too would probably get the same quote, time after time. Much in the same way I always get bottle caps that read, "Please try again."

Now, I am all for having thoughtful, meaningful quotes on coffee cups, which are then thrown away. These quotes are supposed to invite discourse and give people something to talk about. I am not quite sure why they couldn't come up with some better, more meaningful quotes.

This one just does not make sense. (and I think someone else had posted #1 to their site awhile ago, but I can't remember where I read it...)