The Power of Starbucks

As I sit here in Starbucks trying to think about what I am going to write in my blog, it is as if Starbucks knows that I need to write a blog about power. I came to this Starbucks because one of my dear friends Ben works here. Ben happens to be gay. I of course, could care less about Ben’s sexual orientation, but it is obvious that some people, even a man sitting right in front of me does. As I was sitting here staring at my computer, Ben came over to give me a hug. He then started talking about his boyfriend that he is now living with. I was so excited to hear that he is so happy with this guy that they are finally living together. Since I had this idea of power in my head, I could not help but notice the man’s reaction sitting in front of me. He looked up at Ben as if he was so disgusted by the way Ben was talking about living with another man that he was going to throw up. After a few minutes, the man got up and left. I have no idea if the man left because he was offended by what Ben was saying or if he was just done with his delightful latte. But it made me think.

Whether or not he knows it, that man has the power to get up whenever he wanted in that situation because he is in the position of power. Ben, on the other hand did not chose this lifestyle. So that automatically puts him in a position of lower power. Since I don’t know exactly what this man was thinking, I started to think about another situation with Ben at my parents’ house. On St. Patrick’s Day of this year, Ben was over helping me and some other girls get ready for the night. As we were heading upstairs after dinner, my dad made a comment about Ben saying, “I bet Ben is just pretending to be gay so that he can watch the girls get ready.” Little did my dad know, Ben was sitting at the top of the stairs listening to the hurtful words my dad had just said. Since my dad knew exactly what he was saying, he chose at that specific time to show his power over Ben. I talked with Ben after he heard what my dad said and he was blatantly upset. This is just another example of how one person can inadvertently exhibit destructive power over someone else. It is in these situations that I really let myself think about how much power one can chose to have over someone else. It is in our power to make a change. I guess we can all chose how to positively or negatively use our power in all walks of life.