No, not this kind of one night stand...
The parents and faculty at our local school scoffed at the idea of allowing Coke vending machines on to the campus there. Expressing love and care for their dear children, they would not allow such an addictive and unhealthy drink to be so easily dispensed. It would lead to more childhood obesity, diabetes, addiction and poor nutrition as their unwitting naive little munchkins sucked it down as a quick-fix for that much needed adolescent caloric intake. Coca - COLA...go home!. We will not have you here!
But then, the compassionate minded Coca-cola company offered something to the school that was sorely needed. Needed more than a healthy child. Something bolder and brighter than your child's future.
A new scoreboard!
That's right. The old scoreboard on the football field was becoming dilapidated and impossible to repair. The cost of a new one an unbearable burden! Enter Coca Cola. "We will get you that new scoreboard!" ( graced with our logo of course) Gesture enough to soften the local school board so that they allowed coke machines in all of the schools in the county.
Not one to succumb to such overbearing influences of a gigantic corporation....I stopped drinking Coke that day. Nope. No more! I will not be run over by these legal pushers and they will have my business no more!
The next day...hoping to encourage some sort of 1960's -ish boycott against this giant.,...I emphatically denied my own brother's offer for an ice cold Coca-cola on a sweltering hot and sunshiney Florida day. "No way!" I told'im. "Did you see what they did to get Coke in the schools? It was so obvious! Devious bastards! I'm never drinking Coke again!" To which he mockingly replied "Ha! Luke's one-man strike against Coca-cola!"
I paused for a moment....in a bit of angered disgust at the flippant nature of his comment. Until I realized it profound. Then, I slammed that Coca-Cola, squeezing the can as I chugged it down in five foaming feverish and addictive swallows . My 'one night stand' against the filthy conglomerate had ended.
And with it, an ideal. That we , as a society, ...were still capable of making such a stand. That monetary value could never replace moral value and ethic. That the power to control large corporations, governments, and greedy tsar-ish bullies still remained in our collective souls. But we have sold it for an almighty dollar.
Gone is the boycott! And with it, unionized labor and the local fund drive. The community's soul-driven power in these rituals seemingly arcane. Our voice handed over to 'governments', ....along with our ethics and our conscience. Our right...and our will and ability to make a stand based on our own collective morality, willingly relinquished....
But then, the compassionate minded Coca-cola company offered something to the school that was sorely needed. Needed more than a healthy child. Something bolder and brighter than your child's future.
A new scoreboard!
That's right. The old scoreboard on the football field was becoming dilapidated and impossible to repair. The cost of a new one an unbearable burden! Enter Coca Cola. "We will get you that new scoreboard!" ( graced with our logo of course) Gesture enough to soften the local school board so that they allowed coke machines in all of the schools in the county.
Not one to succumb to such overbearing influences of a gigantic corporation....I stopped drinking Coke that day. Nope. No more! I will not be run over by these legal pushers and they will have my business no more!
The next day...hoping to encourage some sort of 1960's -ish boycott against this giant.,...I emphatically denied my own brother's offer for an ice cold Coca-cola on a sweltering hot and sunshiney Florida day. "No way!" I told'im. "Did you see what they did to get Coke in the schools? It was so obvious! Devious bastards! I'm never drinking Coke again!" To which he mockingly replied "Ha! Luke's one-man strike against Coca-cola!"
I paused for a moment....in a bit of angered disgust at the flippant nature of his comment. Until I realized it profound. Then, I slammed that Coca-Cola, squeezing the can as I chugged it down in five foaming feverish and addictive swallows . My 'one night stand' against the filthy conglomerate had ended.
And with it, an ideal. That we , as a society, ...were still capable of making such a stand. That monetary value could never replace moral value and ethic. That the power to control large corporations, governments, and greedy tsar-ish bullies still remained in our collective souls. But we have sold it for an almighty dollar.
Gone is the boycott! And with it, unionized labor and the local fund drive. The community's soul-driven power in these rituals seemingly arcane. Our voice handed over to 'governments', ....along with our ethics and our conscience. Our right...and our will and ability to make a stand based on our own collective morality, willingly relinquished....
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