Thursday, January 24, 2008

Starbucks redeems themselves? itself? whatever, they're redeemed.

So I decided to try something new this morning. The Venti Soy Sugar-free Cinnamon Dolcé Latté just wasn't sounding as tasty as it usually does. I ordered a Venti Green Tea Soy Latté. I get to work, an after tasting the deliciousness, I went to trusty starbucks.com to see the nutritional information. Calories, not too bad for non-sugar-free; fat calories, not bad at all... Read the description:
An intriguing blend of premium green tea, soothing steamed milk and delicately sweet melon.
MELON?! JEEBUS! No wonder it's so tasty... I'm freakin allergic to it. WHY don't they list that anywhere else!? It's not a "Green Tea Melon Latté"! (See: Starbucks Rant #1) Am I drinking it anyway? Yes. Yes I am. That's $4.44, I'm not pouring it out... and no one else works at my office, so I couldn't give it to anyone.

So as i sit here with slight discomfort in my throat (no worries, there's no anaphylaxis going on... yet...) watching the clip from yesterday's Ellen show with Jurstind Timberlake, I noticed "The Way I See It # 264" printed on the side of my cup:
Every 20 minutes - less time than it will take you to drink your coffee - another child is diagnosed with autism. It's much more common than people think, with one out of every 150 children diagnosed. Learn the early warning signs of autism, and if you're concerned about your child's development, talk to your doctor. Early intervention could make a big difference in your child's future.
-- Bob Wright
Former chairman and CEO of NBC/Universal, co-founder of Autism Speaks

My first experience with Autism was with an old boyfriend. His youngest brother (I believe he was 5 at the time) was autistic. I didn't know all that much about it except that he wasn't social at all and that he wouldn't eat dinner at the table. One night, on the phone with said ex-b/f, he stopped in the middle of his sentence and said, "EW!"
"What?" I asked, concerned.
"Oh, I just stepped on a hot dog. My room must've been where Wayne ate his dinner."

Funny story, he stepped on a hot dog... But I started to do some research on autism at that point. There wasn't as much information out there as there is now, but I got the general gist of it.
Not too much longer after that, our community started to hear a lot more about autism because of Olaf Kolzig's oldest son Carson and the foundation Olie and his wife, Christin started (Carson Kolzig Foundation) to support families challenged by autism.

I encourage everyone, especially parents, potential parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles to help in any way they can, whether it be donations, volunteering or just becoming more educated on the subject, watching for signs and symptoms in children in their lives.


Photo By Kelly Pickard
See? Chetter is helping out! The #1 ranked North American goaltender in the upcoming NHL draft has the "autism awareness ribbon on the back of his mask.

Some Links:
Cure Autism Now
Autism Speaks
Athletes Against Autism

1 comment:

Jennifer Hammer said...

melon? with green tea? just don't die, k?