I forget who said it- I'm thinking Jackie did- but well mannered, well thought out letters WILL do more good than angry letters full of homeschooler angst. I believe the more eloquently we state how we feel- and don't get personal-the more weight our feelings will carry with them. Who knows? Maybe they'll even create a contest of some kind for the hs community?
Well stated Becky, that is why I chose not to sign the on line petition because I would rather formulate my own letter. I think it would have been possible for a hs family to win and donate the sports equipment to a school of their choosing. I really don't think anyone who posted here had any intention on keeping all that equipment if they had been allowed to participate and by chance won.
My example of scholarships was just an example. I didn't mean to go off on a tangent about that, though I did anyway! I think writing letters of concern is good too! I was hoping, though, that I could get across my point, because I already understood the other pov, I just wanted to throw out what SOME hsers are thinking. So I didn't need my analogy to be picked on as simple/basic (even if it was), because it was just and example of why I'm choosing not to be angry/upset over it. Life isn't always fair........ But that's all I was doing, and wasn't disagreeing with or trying to be rude to any of you. Sorry if it came across that way!
Deena, you didn't come across rude. :love: I felt that you were simply stating your position and throwing in some other scenarios (food for thought, so to speak), no offense was taken here. :love:
Thanks MamaBear! I almost always MEAN well, just not a good "orator (sp???)". Some people say what they want to say so beautifully...<sigh>
You expressed yourself very eloquently. :love: Sometimes it is hard to express what you think and feel on line because we can't see your body language or facial expressions. KWIM?
Kris please don't keep your opinions to yourself, you will be robbing us of a wealth of wisdom and friendship. :love: I value your opinion!
We have a lot of our homeschool meetings at the boys and girls club. They could've used that equipment. I'm not going to throw a big stink about it though. There will be other opportunities. Maybe I feel like this because we would probably be excluded anyhow being that my MIL is a supervisor of Subway restaurants. I will probably write them a letter to let them know that homeschoolers would like this as a teachable opportunity as well. Just for the principal of the matter.
I have never seen any home school competitions offered by any public business. I have seen competitions offered by HSLDA and home school magazines but never by any business open to the public. I truly think that Subway will be more sensitive in the future. It's my opinion that most were just put off by the "no home school" allowed print. As always everyone offered some wonderful insight into how they feel and would handle the situation. I have read threads where I thought for sure that I thought a particular way and when I got through reading all the posts I saw things in a different light. That's what is great about this place, we can discuss and open others eyes to new ideas! :love: ((((Another group hug!))))
I wanted to ask my children's opinion on this ( they are 10 and 12 yrs. old) so I did. They said at first it seemed unfair BUT when they went over the way the prize was laid out they totally understood why homeschoolers were excluded. Then the next thing that came out of their mouth was that they ( Subway and Scholastic) didn't give the homeschoolers a chance to donate the prize to a school, YMCA, or Rec Center. I asked them what they wanted to do about that and they decided to write to the companies. So my dd's and I wrote an email to the customer service department of both companies. When it came time to sign the bottom I had them put their names and ages first, then I signed. IF they change the rules for next year my oldest would still not be able to do it because she will be in 7th grade and the contest states K-6th only, but she wanted to get her voice heard anyway. I'm still not hurt about this, I don't feel "wronged" for being excluded and either do my children. I just think whoever designed this contest had GOOD intentions about helping a school. They probably honestly thought that homeschoolers either didn't know a school to give it to or wouldn't want to give it to a school because we don't want anything to do with schools , that's why we homeschool! They ( Subway/Scholastic) honestly ,or maybe not, just didn't think about giving it to a YMCA , Rec Center or Co-Op, but I bet they will now though!!!
Got an email from AFA (American Family Action) this afternoon. They are now involved in this issue. http://www.afa.net/subway.htm
Which is why I no longer subscribe to AFA. Every other day they were boycotting someone. I wouldn't be able to buy from ANYONE! To me, this is none of their business. It's a trivial matter.
HSLDA has also taken an interest in this matter here is a link to the letter they wrote to Subway. http://www.hslda.org/docs/news/200805270.asp
I think it's unfair, but this is America, and I believe that any place should be able to open doors or close doors to whomever they wish. Regardless of the fact that it excludes us this time, whenever there are lawyers/lawsuits involved in things like this it just opens the door even wider for things to be taken out of our hands that are really private matters. I konw that so far at least there is no talk of lawyers, but it just gripes me that most things like this end up that way. And I understand that it is a public restaurant, but it is owned by someone that should be able to say, "Hey, I don't want this open to HS." And yes, I think that goes across the board. When a person owns/runs/pays taxes on a business, they should be able to make decisions on how they want to run their business. By the same token we can choose not to patronize their business and possibly cause them to change their stance in an effort to save their business. That, my dear friends, is the American way. It would be nice of them to open to homeschoolers, but if they don't I truly hope lawyers are not brought in.
I don't think that a lawsuit would be a good idea. Matter of fact, a lawsuit over $5,000 worth of playground equipment that any particular home schooler may or may not win is just plain dumb. So, while I will not be giving Subway my business any time soon, I also agree with PecanGrove.
