If you are anywhere near Seattle, you should stop by the flagship Starbucks store around 10:30am and order some food or drink. Then maybe you should let the manager know that you think the people outside are nuts and you hope they don’t get involved in politics with those weird people lying on the ground.
Why are you Seattle folks feeling like a little Starbucks from the original location today around 10:30am? Because Abby Spangler just announced her next lie-in today. She’s outraged that Starbucks has refused to make a political statement on her pet issue. There’s also going to be a Brady press conference, where they will present their petition. So let’s make sure that enough paying customers speak up and just ask that Starbucks stick to coffee and leave the politics to the DC-based groups.
Interestingly, the Brady Campaign doesn’t even care about this enough to bother letting their fans know about it.
“… 19 minutes ago via Facebook …”
No, it looks like they just slept in.
And this post went up before then.
You should tell people NOT to show up at Starbucks open carrying. That is what Brady wants.
I would agree for this situation. That’s why I put a focus on what people should do – just go buy some stuff and tell the staff that you think the people outside are being weird, and you hope they don’t get involved in politics. If corporate folks check in to find out what happened and they report that paying customers just thought it was stupid, then that will make a much bigger impact.
The reason they are not telling anybody is because the brady bunch fans get their coffee at starbucks too. They do not want to get banned for obstructing customers. If I were there it would be a huge temptation to walk on them while carrying 10 cups of nice hot black coffee.
Yeah I’d definitely second the “don’t open carry’ sentiment. If there are a handful of crazy people lying outside I’d rather not anagonize them.
More backlash from OC activism.
Keep it up, guys!
/sarcasm
Mike: What about people like myself who OC because it’s more comfortable, particularly when bloody hot out in Arizona? Would my stopping by a store count as “activism”, even if I’m not there for any political reason?
Why shouldn’t I be allowed to conduct myself in a lawful manner anywhere in public I choose? I can OC in the grocery store, on the sidewalk, in Wal-Mart, or in Starbucks. Why should I refrain from OCing some place where I’m not prohibited from doing so?
Sure, I can see avoiding obvious political issues and avoiding needlessly antagonizing anyone and would stay away from any active protest site, but I fail to see how reasonable people OCing in public in normal circumstances in any way detracts from the public perception of gun owners.
Arizona Rifleman – you can do whatever you want. However, if you make a point of going out in public for the express purpose of drawing attention to your OC firearm, then you’re doing more harm than good. Since that’s not how you describe your situation, then good for everyone.
But OC activists are a thorn in the side of everyone – on both sides of the issue. They’re just more useful to the anti-gunners. Case in point: before Starbucks held its ground, OC activists got not one, but TWO coffee chains to ban firearms. Prior to OC activists being so helpful, you would have been free to go there and OC while having a cup of joe. Now that the OC activists had their fun, you can’t.
OC activists are out there throwing the issue in everyones’ faces and forcing them to act, most often contrary to your interests. So yeah, I think that’s a horrible idea. Normalizing is one thing. Daring people to do something to stop you, and then being surprised when the do, is another.
While we do have some activists, not actually that much open carry here in Western Washington. Of course, the climate here supports wearing outer garments pretty much year-round…
Myself, I wasn’t really feeling it, but I was on my way to work at 10:30 anyway. So I took an extra break and went to the nearest Starbucks at the salt mines later that afternoon.