Apparently, emotions run high over sandwich shops and their contests. After Subway issued their apology, I thought the matter would be dropped. But I guess the apology wasn’t quite good enough. In my email box sits a message, instructing me to cut, paste and edit it for use with my local Subway store, as if I weren’t capable of crafting my own message or even deciding for myself whether I wanted to accept the apology I don’t even particularly feel was owed to me. At the heart of the message is this paragraph:
Subway’s response was simply to affirm its contest rules. I understand the grand prize is not intended to benefit one family, but no consideration was given to awarding it to area recreation facilities or parks that benefit the public should a homeschooled student win the contest.
And with it comes notification that we “choose to spend our money elsewhere from now on.” When is enough going to be enough? And just how much validation do we need from a sandwich shop? Subwaygate, as Sunniemom of A Woman On Purpose so affectionately termed it, has taken on a life of its own.
I actually found their apology to be quite amusing, albeit for totally different reasons. I couldn’t get past this line:
To address the inadvertent limitation of our current contest and provide an opportunity for even more kids to improve their fitness…
I need Subway to help improve my children’s fitness about as much as need to be included in their contests to feel validated as a homeschooler. And I really am beginning to believe that really is what this whole snafu is about: validation. Not rights. Not discrimination. Simple validation. That and the fact that the only other news Google Alerts is turning up are items like “Homeschool-Helpers English Country Dance.” Come to think of it, I wonder just how much of the outrage is directly attributable to the fact that there just isn’t much else of eyebrow-raising importance to blog about?
At any rate, OneMom hit the nail on the head in her reasons for boycotting Subway:
This issue is not just about Subway, but it is yet another symptom of a growing discrimination of homeschoolers and evangelical Christians in this country. If we do not stand against it, where will it end? Subway Homeschool Discrimination Around the Web
It isn’t about Subway. It isn’t about the contest. And slipping in the bit about evangelical Christians in response to a contest which included parochial schools shows to what extent we have staked our frustrations with society’s views of homeschooling on Subway. This is about every editorial casting us as “well-meaning amateurs,” every confrontation with an unsupportive family member, every time a stranger asks about our qualifications. All conveniently directed at one faceless entity named Subway.
With the talk of rights, freedoms and even law suits, along with the admonition to remain ever-vigilant, I get the sense that those most invested in the boycott perceive this action similarly to pulling weeds. These are the slights to homeschooling which, if allowed to germinate, will spread and eventually endanger our rights. But, as OneMom rightly points out, Subway’s contest rules are a symptom. A symptom which some have become so focused on, I am beginning to worry about the patient. That patient of course being the public’s perception of homeschoolers.
Rights are something we can fight for. When Nebraska proposed a homeschool testing bill, over a thousand homeschoolers showed up to the state capitol representing almost every county in the state. Even with what seemed like general support of the legislature and the public, the bill died in committee because one group was too vocal and too organized to let it slip through. When it is a matter of rights, we dig in our heels, put up a fight and resist compromise. That is what has gotten us where we are today.
But is this the model we should follow for every fight? It is one thing to march on the capitol; it is quite another thing to march on the general public. It seems to me we should be building bridges, not holding them hostage. Subway’s capitulation did not surprise me. What company in its right mind is going to stand up to an organized customer base over a contest? I am sure they would love to have you writing stories about their sandwiches with your children as much as they were thrilled at the opportunity to have schools send flyers home with children encouraging participation. Think what positive press they would have built with us had they tweaked their prizes a bit and sent out a press release to homeschool groups across the nation.
But they didn’t think about it because they were focused on the traditional education model and how to profit from the nation’s current focus on childhood obesity. Let’s not become so focused on Subway that we forget it is only a symptom. The real issue lies deeper and is likely not well-served through boycotts, hyperbolic speech and overly aggressive behavior on the part of our organized networks.
Added: In case you haven’t read it, Tammy over at Just Enough, Nothing More has an excellent post on the “situation.” This I found interesting:
But if we look at our social history, it’s the emotional reactions that get heard. It’s when people cry out far beyond what is proportionately expected that things change. It’s when people are really pissed of that stories get in the news. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
As I noted above, I think this has been a successful model for dealing with the state. I do not believe, however, that it is the best way to deal with public opinion, and while Subway had no choice but do something in response to the outrage, the real question is what this does for homeschooling in the minds of the average American, not what it does for Subway corporation’s opinion which thinks predominantly in dollars and sense.
via Mom is Teaching
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Update: OneMom asks a good question: Why doesn’t LIFE get this kind of attention? Now, really you could insert whatever your pet issue is, but abortion certainly ranks as one of the great controversies of America. Almost up there with Subway contests, I guess. But I have some ideas as to why this might have garnered more attention (and this “me” is a sort of general me, if that makes any sense. It does not necessarily reflect my actual viewpoints):
- It affects me. Abortion affects somebody else.
- There was hope of victory.
- It was new. The abortion debate seems to have worn on even the most passionate.
- Writing a letter and eating at Quizno’s really does not make anyone uncomfortable. Talking about abortion seems to make everyone uncomfortable.
LA-LA-LA! (Fingers in the ears!) LA-LA-LA! (Tell me when it’s over!) LA-LA-LA! (Are we still talking about Subway?) LA-LA-LA! (I thought we had moved on?!?) LA-LA-LA!
Well, I did. But then I didn’t. So there. Just don’t boycott me, K?
You can come over, and I’ll fix you a sandwich. That way we don’t have to cross the picket lines.
BTW What are angry homeschoolers throwing at scabs these days? Erasers and chemistry goggles? What happens if I go ahead and eat there (which I’m not – the whole food poisoning thing is still too fresh!)??? Will I get kicked out of the club? Just wonderin’.
I don’t know. Good question. Luckily, most people seem to have accepted the apology, but a few seem to be trying to keep it alive.
And for the record, I don’t count OneMom in that group. I only linked to her because I think she is right. That is exactly what people are reacting to. I just disagree with the level of the reaction.
You know, after a while I got bored of Subway. But, then they came out with the toasted sandwiches. Ohhh, so good, especially the Chicken Teriyaki.
There’s one problem though. When the first person makes your sandwich and then toasts it, the other person is adding vegetables to some one else’s order and then takes their payment before they get back to you and by that time your toasted sandwich is cold, so what was the point of toasting?
Another one is sometimes their oven’s too hot and it kinda hardens the bread too much.
Well I guess my life is so difficult I don’t know if I can carry on. I mean, is there more to life than cold, hardened sandwiches?
No, because it’s all about me.
I am just a wee bit skeptical at the level of outrage as well as the continued ire against Subway. I find it ludicrous that, in spite of the dozens of academic competitions and promotions one can find online that exclude homeschoolers or a large percentage of homeschoolers, Subway is singled out as the red-headed stepchild and taken out to the woodshed.
My post on Googling for other contests has almost 100 hits, but yet I have not seen any outrage directed at any of the companies I listed, or any protests organized, letters written, emails circulating… which leaves me believing that some HSers were just working out their frustrations on Subway, and now that they have blown off some steam, life will return to some semblance of normal. So the outrage was not against any discrimination, real or perceived. It was, IMO, a virtual pity party. Subway hurted our feewings.
To clarify, I have stated and continue to believe that Subway intended the prize to go to a traditional school, that they did not do any research into home education nor really even consider including HSers, and that as April pointed out yesterday, this was a marketing ploy for a feel good photo op and to spread warm fuzzies over the largest amount of real estate possible.
I think it is fine to write to companies that sponsor academic competitions, and ask them to consider home educators when they are conceiving their little marketing schemes disguised as generous philanthropy. And as home educators become a sector of the free market of which businesses and organizations become more aware, we will also find ourselves being courted for our cash. Yippee-skippee-ooh-aah.
What I’m curious about is why those of us who are seeking to not be of the world, would expect anything less than the world being the world? If Subway wants to exclude hs’ers, that is their prerogative. They owe me nothing and I can choose to not do business with them. Same with McDonalds and their “issues” and all the rest. I say, let ‘em whirl. They are doing what sin does. By engaging, aren’t we saying we are dependent on their righteousness for our livelihood, instead of on Christ and His? Just a thought. I’m surely not claiming to have any answers. I just get tired of playing the “make the sinners” behave game.
What we need is a bit of good old fashioned peer pressure. The “Can’t Stop the Protest!” crew is embarrassing all of us. Where do I sign up to administer wedgies, taunts and rude nick-names?
I think I’ll have Subway today–even though I really don’t like it– and we’ll loudly proclaim we’re homeschoolers.
Well, I’ll buy a sandwich, but I’m NOT gonna eat it. And maybe I could taunt somebody, but I not giving ANYBODY who already has their panties in a wad a wedgie.
That’s my final answer.
Maybe you could give it to Hungry Man. He seems to be drooling for a sub.
And maybe I should mention in all of this that I don’t even know who the person is that sent me the email about continuing the boycott, nor how I got on their mailing list. But the form letters and programmed responses annoyed me as an HSLDA member, leading eventually to leaving the organization. So it isn’t the best way to convince me of something.
Seeing the way some people reacted, however, maybe the form letter protest is the best way to go about it. It helps clean up some of the sarcasm before it makes matters worse.
Why do some protest letters look like auditions for The Tonight Show, as if companies will be impressed by wit or hyperbole rather than dealing with the issue?
I looked at the Cheetos boycott, Dana, and I think that is a legitimate reason to protest and boycott a product. If a person actually did what those commercials depict, they could be arrested, fined, or fired. Not funny, and not something a child should see an adult doing, and not only doing, but reveling in it. Why is it supposed to be amusing to see people give in to their baser instincts instead of being generous or noble?
Cheetos boycott? What did I miss. I love Cheetos with salsa. yum.
April, I’m sorry. If you don’t join my boycott I will never be able to speak to you again. (Just kidding, obviously).
It is about their ad campaign which never really gained any traction and seems to be dying its own death right now. Thankfully, because the boycott never really got anywhere either.
http://www.boycottcheetos.com/
And I love Sun Chips…especially the Garden Salsa. Why does Frito Lay have to own everything in the chip aisle?
Take a look at some of the commercials…like the lady who gets beat to the laundromat, so she throws her cheetos in the machine with the other woman’s clothes. Then they encourage you to do likewise, video tape it, and upload it to YouTube as part of their “Orange Underground.”
They are specifically promoting vandalism and harassment AND inviting you to join them.
Well, that’s just stupid. I’m guessing someone will get sued, some ad agency got dropped, and somebody got fired. Not necessarily in that order.
My 3 cents is that it’s Subway’s money to give to whomever they want. They could have worded their contest in such a way to prevent this “backlash”, but they chose to use “exclude” and they’ve reaped the “whirlwind.”
Not sure if there really is a good principle to stand on here– right now, it really makes homeschoolers look like they’ll just “go home and play with their G.I. Joes” because you called them a name.
Speaking as a homeschooling parent in the fall, I’d like to believe we’re bigger people than that.
I thought the term “inadvertant” was funny. It seemed pretty explicit to me!
Although, it’s one less thing I have to attempt to fit in so that I know I’m homeschooling “right”. Essay contests, reading contests, art contests, for free pizzas and subs and other food wear me out some times.
Although, I’m more miffed that they didn’t respond to my personal, not cut and paste email than I was about them not letting homeschoolers enter their contest.
Try Zapp’s potato chips (http://www.zapps.com/).
Yum! Honey Mustard!
Let’s don’t get *too* caught up in this “it’s Subway’s money to do whatever they want with” principle, though.
Not to belabor (or defend) the counterargument, but the facts are that even my personal money isn’t mine with which to do WHATEVER I want, any way I want — private citizens (much less private businesses)live with mind-boggling legal and moral constraints on all kinds on our money use, from campaign contribution limits and not bribing cops and home inspectors, to not using one’s money to to hurt a rival a la Toyna Harding and Nancy Kerrigan, or producing child pornography, not paying taxes a la Wesley Snipes, heck, merely choosing not to take my required minimum IRS distributions from my own private savings will be punished! At various times and places, people in various circumstances have been prohibited from using their money on gold, alcohol, marijuana, cigarettes and cars that polluted too much. . .
And in private business, mortgage companies and real estate agents can’t discriminate against certain categories of clients and employees, etc etc etc.
All I’m saying is that to be taken seriously in public opinion as capable, credible educators, we need to keep it real, not veer off into some unreal utopia.
Oh — and I forgot hiding private money in a divorce to hurt one’s spouse and kids and/or failing to pay ordered child support after the fact –
And homeschoolers wonder why the general public thinks us odd! What a big mess. And for what… as you mention-validation. I count! What about me!
That’s it. I’m going to take my kids to Subway today, and I don’t even like Subway that much. I “boycott” a few nearby franchises because they are poorly managed and literally stink. Like someone is raising cattle in the back, perhaps. But the newest one in our area is OK, and my girls especially like their cookies.
And Dana… I plan to pass your post one. My in-box has been flooded with, “Can you believe Subway!” letters from my local homeschooling group. Your perspective is what I have felt, but didn’t articulate… so my lazy butt is simply going to send them the link to your post
Seriously, Zapp’s chips are really good. I like their Crawtators, too.
Amen Dana! Amen!!!
I think homeschoolers have made themselves look foolish through all of this. And thats all I have to say about that. We have lowered our standing in the eyes of our communities. This is ridiculous.
JJRoss–I agree with you…I was thinking about that yesterday. After all, if they were using their money to benefit young KKK members, I’d boycott. And no apology would satisfy me. The difference is that there isn’t anything inherently wrong with buying athletic equipment for schools.
LOTP–going for Weaver’s. They’re local, just not carried by WalMart.
Milehimama–that’s true. And I wouldn’t have ever said much of anything if some hadn’t gone over the top with their comments and my email literally flooded. It’s a bit much.
HA! Weaver is my maiden name. Not sure you could get Zapp’s in Nebraska, anyway. Maybe online.
And they offer their factory facilities for field trips for homeschoolers.
JJRoss, also, when we talk about property rights, we have to take into account that all of us have the same kind of right to spend our money at Subway or anywhere else for whatever reason.
The real questions are:
1) What are we really upset about? and
2) What is the best way to rectify it, taking all of our goals into account.
We are not going to change public opinion about homeschooling by overwhelming them with protests the same way we sway legislatures. “A force to be reckoned with” is not necessarily the reputation I am going for.
Just checked email – not ONE protest email. Should I be happy or feel unappreciated?
(I suspect this is what happens when you let your cat post on your blog.)
I want some protest email, darn it!
LOTP-I didn’t get any protest emails either. We just don’t belong to the ‘right’ lists. Maybe we should ask Dana who to ask so that we too can receive messages from the Tin Foil Helmet Brigade. :p
Let’s play One Of These Things Is Not Like The Other-
Scenario #1- Subway has a writing contest with a grand prize that is obviously intended to benefit a large group of children, and so excludes HSers presumably because we aren’t ‘a large group’.
Scenario #2- Subway has a writing contest with a grand prize that is obviously intended to benefit a large group of children, but excludes Hispanics and Baptists because…?
How are these scenarios alike? How are they different? I only ask because I am seeing these two circumstances being compared to each other.
Nice to know I’m not alone, Sunniemom. I’d join the club, but I suspect I’d have to talk about things other than my kids and cat. You know, I’d have to post on important issues in homeschooling – like Subway sandwiches.
(Just kidding, Dana!)
Hushing up before someone chucks a pair of chemistry goggles at me.
sigh. I thought maybe we could just live our lives and enjoy our kids. I wish people would stop asking–no guilting–me to join something I’m just not passionate about. Going negative rarely works I think. I don’t eat there anyway, so enough already. Is this even a biblical way to handle conflict? If you don’t like what they are doing, just don’t eat there. But please don’t ask all of us to join in. Boycotts are not really effective, except to make the boycotters look bad. Just my humble opinion…
Another awesome post Dana.
Sunniemom, those scenarios have a couple of notable distinctions but also many relevant similarities. So I think it’s a good question, not to be dismissed out of hand with something as kneejerk as we often hear: “people don’t CHOOSE to be Hispanic.”
What does that actually mean anyway, that if you become a garbage man or a clinic worker or a beauty queen, it’s okay for people to revile you and everyone like you, to refuse you service, to libel you, and throw things at you in public?
And kids themselves don’t really get to choose much about being either Baptist or homeschooled, do they? The lack of real choice even in something apparently chosen, — living a particular religious lifestyle, let’s say — is very much in the news this week for the polygamist cult kids. Can Subway discriminate against them in its contest rules believing that by the time they’re old enough to enjoy playground equipment in the compound, they’re either pregnant or expelled from the community as a bad influence?
Class discrimination is a serious issue even if it is sometimes most effectively addressed by putting on a public attention-getting show, like this or Bobby Riggs v. Billie Jean King playing tennis to address sex discrimination.
What I am thinking when folks try to compare Subway excluding HSers and Subway excluding an ethnic or religious group is the reason behind the exclusion. It makes sense that one can conduct an academic competition open to certain age groups or schools, but does not make sense to sponsor one that excludes Catholics or Jews or redheads.
The Subway contest also excluded Canadians, but their reasoning behind that was probably a legal issue, not one of hatred or bigotry. It doesn’t make sense that Subway excluded HSers because they hate us or have a chip on their shoulder about home education. It does make sense that they assumed that HSers could not participate because of the purpose of the contest- to award a large prize to a large group of kids. I doubt they understood that they could have worked it so that HSers could participate, but if one is going to get up in arms over Subway’s contest, then one should, to be consistent, be finding every single academic competition and protesting those as well.
I see the real problem is one of needing to provide ‘proof’ that education is taking place. Most contests that I saw are only open to traditional schools and/or accredited homeschool groups. IOW, it doesn’t take a village, it takes an organization that has received a pat on the head from the state. Why aren’t independent HSers allowed to participate if they submit a copy of their Notice of Intent or whatever other paperwork the state requires, and then in states that don’t require HSers to play Mother May I the parent merely submits a signed letter stating that they are a legally operating homeschool? But no- only ‘accredited’ agencies can verify whether a child is being educated.
What does that actually mean anyway, that if you become a garbage man or a clinic worker or a beauty queen, it’s okay for people to revile you and everyone like you, to refuse you service, to libel you, and throw things at you in public?
It means that you get to crunch Cheetos in their hair and upload the video to YouTube!
And Sunniemom, I think you are exactly right. And it is important to think through that I think, at least if the defenses of those in the other comment thread are serious that the reason they don’t boycott General Mills is because they do offer their box tops program to organized homeschool groups.
And the messages stopped, so joining my lists likely won’t help you much. Sorry. I’ll put you in my address book and start forwarding you stuff that is forwarded to me, K? Except that likely won’t work well, because I will forget, not being the forwarding type. So I’ll just rant about it occasionally here, for the “benefit” of everyone.
When I heard about this contest excluding homeschoolers, my first response was not even a “Meh.” I actually didn’t even care enough to “Meh.”
Then when I saw that other people were getting upset, I still couldn’t bring myself to care.
Now I’m absolutely excited about it because it’s like a clown show at the circus. Kinda fun to watch. What will happen next? Something hilarious, I hope.
S’okay, Dana. I can’t speak for Sunniemom, but I get enough junk email as it is.
Phil – Is a “Meh” anything like a “Mais?”
‘Cause I have to say, this topic is screamin’ for a “Mais.”
(Re-inserting fingers into ears. “LA-LA-LA.”)
http://lifeontheplanet.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/05/the-great-subway-debate-of-2008-a-summary.html
Regarding the Great Subway Debate – Scratchy has spoken.
Our family began it’s home education journey 20 years ago. Four children have benefitted greatly by that parental decision. I didn’t bat an eye to focus in on this issue when I first started recieving (oh my goodness How Much !)the mass emailing call- to- arms. Sigh.
Maybe I am just old and grumpy, but life is rich beyond measure, and -way- to short besides, to invest anything into what Subway wants to do with their money. Actually, now that I am batting an eye, I only think it is great they are offering money ! Cool. If they want to benefit some public school with big bucks for equipment, great. Why should I have a problem with that ! I have great appreciation for Principled Discovery blog coming into my inbox. Breath of fresh air, thank you ! Ah ! enough appreciation to move and put my remarks about this issue here.
The richness of our family’s (home)learning life goes on ! I even say all this without having 2 cents to rub together in the past (and most of the past) of our family’s home education years.
Crips, it IS getting embarrassing, I agree ! What will state legislatures and the public think of the wailing masses of home educators across the U.S. ?
Maybe, if society went back to paper and pen……
calm reason and the outlook of “life is not about everything being fair” would prevail. A ‘thank you’ to my mother who taught me that outlook, it has served me well and kept me focused with my energy on issues big enough to address.
I think that the relatively larger furor over Subway vs say the TN DOE or the CA courts decision is a recognition that in the first case we (as customers) actually have the ability to have an impact while our ability to rein in the powers that be in the other two instances is dubious.
A petition or letter writing camgaign against a business may force it to change in order to maintain its market share. But how do you direct a petition or letter writing campaign against a court that has made a ruling that didn’t really even relate to the facts of the case before it. And how do I as a not TN resident bring any pressure to bear against an overarching state official?
Moreover, how do I do anything to protect homeschooling freedoms in CA or TN without making the situation worse?
Do I care if someone thinks that I’m whining because I wanted to inform a company that they’d unintentionally offended me as a customer? I don’t think that folks who’ve recently written screeds against homeschooling are going to somehow develop a lower opinion of my family’s educational choice.
I agree that a lot of the difference here was the hope of success. And I don’t think a nationwide letter writing campaign is appropriate for TN or CA. And I don’t view writing a letter to Subway as whining. The people who bugged me were those equating this with homeschool liberties and were beginning to get quite aggressive toward those who did not join in.
The tone got very aggressive for some, and while the first round battle was won, I’m not entirely sure it helped the real issue any, namely that of the general public’s perception of homeschooling.
I think a more measured and calmer approach would have been more appropriate…and that isn’t criticizing everyone who wrote a letter.
I didn’t actually get any of the agitated emails, although it did pop up on on forum I visit. I’m interested in seeing if the email is still being forwarded around in six months.
Now that is a funny thought. I figured it would circulate for awhile and then people would slowly hear that Subway had apologized. I was surprised to instantly begin getting notes to keep the boycott going…that the apology and promise of future inclusion wasn’t good enough.