Mental Post-Its

Thoughts, Notes, and General Mental Mayhem


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Groupon? Group-OFF

I was really disappointed to learn this week that Groupon San Francisco has twice offered tours to Kink, a porn studio, as one of it’s discounted experience promotions. A friend shared an email with me from the organization, The War on Illegal Pornography, with the details.

Here’s what their email said:

For the second time, Groupon has sent out thousands of emails to individuals advertising a tour where people can view a live filming of sadomasochistic, torture porn at Kink’s studios. Groupon even advertises that groups may get to see a live filming in progress. When confronted about their choice to feature this company, Groupon defended it saying they thoroughly vet the businesses we feature…Fortunately, this business has proven to be a responsible member of their community.”

This “responsible member of the community” specializes in the live filming of “young sexy teens who are overwhelmed and outnumbered…who need to learn a lesson by multiple men;” of women being “bound, whipped, objectified and humiliated. They are immobilized, caged and humiliated as objects;” of women “suspended and tied in rope bondage…tormented beyond all reason;” and of women “naked, tied up, bound, punished, exposed in public…who are taken to public bars for public sex and public humiliation…” (The material in quotations are descriptions written by the porn site Groupon is advertising for.) Is this really corporate responsibility? Shouldn’t we demand that Groupon refrain from selling torture porn tours that exploit and degrade women?

You can see the link that was sent to me with widgets for sample letters to executives and executive emails here.

As you should when you get any kind of forwarded information, you should check it out for yourself before taking action in case the info is outdated or incorrect in some way. So I searched for the tour on their website but found nothing. I was encouraged thinking that maybe they’d removed it due to public pressure. So, I did a web search and found numerous articles of papers, websites and blogs covering the story and backing up the facts behind The War on Illegal Pornography’s claims. Again, so disappointed. I have loved Groupon from the beginning.

The next thing I did was to write in to Groupon’s customer service myself to see if I would get a different response to the claim, or maybe that they’d taken this offer off of their list both now and in the future.

Here’s what I received:

Hi, Kristi,

Thanks for your feedback. We certainly didn’t intend to offend anyone.

We strive to offer interesting and exciting deals that will appeal to our diverse customer base. We’ve run deals with this specific business before, and while we realize it may not appeal to everyone, we’ve received positive customer feedback on past offers.

We thoroughly vet the businesses we feature, which is why we take these concerns seriously. We’ve found that the tour offered in this deal is historical and informational in nature and provides a unique look inside the landmark San Francisco Armory and its past.

Your feedback is extremely important to use and makes an impact in how we choose which businesses to work with in the future. Thanks again for taking the time to share your concerns with us, and please know that we value your opinion as a customer.

Diane T

Groupon Customer Service

It is identical to the response posted on the aforementioned website. Gotta say, I was really bummed. They stood by their offer and it sounded like they have no intention of removing it as a future offer. I also checked out the public version of the facility’s tour description here.

So, I was left with only one alternative. I cancelled my Groupon subscription. I have been a big fan of Groupon since their launch, made multiple purposes and even forwarded deals to friends. But I can not in good conscious support a company that takes that stance. And I truly hope you will join me.

As consumers, the power of our money is the strongest vote we have. Speak now.

———————————————————————————————-

UPDATE ON JUNE 13, 2012 FROM MY FRIEND AMY:

Over the last month, 20,000+ people joined our boycott of coupon giant, Groupon because the company was selling coupons to visit a porn studio. We know of at least three businesses that stopped their deals because of Groupon’s decision to run ads for a torture porn company. In addition, 7 other national organizations joined the boycott too.

We are writing to tell you that the boycott worked! 

This message was sent to us:

“Given all the feedback from partners like you, we reassessed not only consumer interest but also merchant opinion on these types of deals. It’s never our intention to offend customers or our business partners. Your feedback has been invaluable to us and executives are regularly informed of merchant response, both positive and negative.  As a result of the feedback from the Armory deal, we have stopped running adult deals across the country.  

 

The Playboy Mansion deal ran after the “non-adult” rule was enacted in the U.S. due to a process glitch.  As soon as we became aware of it, the deal was immediately taken down.” 


Be encouraged that 20,000+ people stood with you this time. We hope that you feel as motivated as we do to continue to challenge pornography and the pornification of our society where and when you see it. We do not have to simply accept the mainstreaming of pornography and the devastation that results from it. We can fight back! Please continue to learn more, spread the word and take action when and where you can! 
Best,
Patrick Trueman
President & CEO, Morality in Media


P.S. Special thanks to the many of you who took action, as well as to our boycott partners: Citizens for Community Values, Girls Against Porn & Human Trafficking, American Family Association of Kansas and Missouri, Louisiana Family Forum Action, Illinois Family Institute, Women for Decency and Arizona Family Council.


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Being Grown Up Has Its Moments

In between the aches and pains, endless bills, long work hours and mounting responsibilities, there are a few perks to being an adult. Today we focus on the positives. As we all know, there are days when it is necessary to remind yourself of these advantages. If you don’t, you may end up in the fetal position, rocking repetitively and humming songs from Peter Pan. They are also great to lord over the younger generations, the whipper-snappers, when they are getting out of line.

I’ve listed my Top 10 List below, in no particular order, since it really depends on the day which is best.

  1. Eating dessert first–or only. Like tonight, dairy was my only food group as I had Pinkberry frozen yogurt for dinner (half salted caramel and half original tart). De-lish!
  2. Living alone. I LOVE living by myself, and if I ever have to give it up, it’ll be rough.
  3. Getting a paycheck. Sure, it takes a lot of hard work to get it, but it’s nice to receive, even if it leaves you quickly.
  4. Picking out your own things. Remember the school pictures when someone else dressed you?
  5. Driving yourself. And this one comes from someone who hates to drive. It is really nice to go where you want, when you want. And I say this statement as a single girl, without kids and soccer practice. Plus, it makes ditching work much easier than ditching school…or so I hear.
  6. Vacation days. It’s no summer or Christmas break, but at least you get paid for being gone.
  7. Pick your friends. I have a birthday right after the start of the school year, so growing up, all the kids in my class had to be invited to my birthday party whether I wanted them there or not. Now, I invite who I want.
  8. No curfew. This realization is good for us night owls. Even on the days I’m exhausted by 10 p.m, it’s good to know I could stay up if I wanted to.
  9. More knowledge. I like to learn, so I like the fact that I know more than I used to.
  10. Sleeping in. I’ve always been big on sleep. I have no understanding of too much sleep. Sure, I used to sleep in a lot when I lived at home, but at least now, I don’t receive any grief for it or “sleeping the day away” comments. Yeah, this past Saturday I slept half the day away–and it felt good.

What did I miss?


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After Orange Conference

It’s been a looooooooonnnnnng week since we just wrapped OC12. I’m pretty pooped, so it’s been nice to be on the couch all day.

In case you missed my constant posting on Twitter and Facebook about it, our staffed gathered with over 5,000 church and ministry leaders to rethink the way the traditional church approaches family ministry. We aim to better partner the church with the home to influence the faith of the next generation. For info, check out our website. We’re even offering free curriculum trials through June.

I am a little anxious to see the surveys, but we’ve already received a lot of great feedback via emails and social media from attendees who said they had a great time and feel better equipped to go back to their church and community in order to make a difference. It’s always encouraging, despite the exhaustion, and this year was particularly great because several of my friends pitched in to volunteer. So it was nice to see the familiar and encouraging faces–kept me going when I started slowing down.

We’ll have a lot more pics in the upcoming weeks on the Orange Leaders Facebook page from the professional photographers, but here are just a few I took with my phone.

Ok, time to get a little sleep and then begin working on OC13!


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King David was Bipolar

180471960Anyone else ever have that thought?

It wasn’t until I was diagnosed as depressed/borderline bipolar about 10 years ago that the thought occurred to me. Shortly after, I was reading a Psalm and it struck me. Black and white, literally. This guy’s emotions are all over the place. Verse to verse—it changes constantly, many times within the same Psalm.

I’m not trying to be silly or anything. I actually took, and still take, great comfort in that idea. I’ve heard so many sermons in my life about David’s sins, and how God still considered him a man after His own heart, but I’ve never heard one about David’s mental stability. I rather like my perspective. It makes the Bible even more relateable to me. We just don’t hear enough about mental issues in the church. It’s a shame. A lot of us deal with those issues. And frankly, a lot more need to. Three cheers for counseling, and sometimes medication. 😉

King David was bipolar.

And he was still a great king, and

…a man after God’s own heart

…a giant slayer

…a warrior

…a son

…a father

…a husband

…a brother

…a poet

…a friend

…and so much more.

He’s one of my heroes.

He’s messed up, just like me. He needed God, just like me. He’s loved by God, just like me.

By the way, if Psalms were meant to be sung, has anyone ever considered how horrible they would sound? Many of them are so harsh it would be just scary to hear them set to a melody. Kinda like a slasher film set to an opera.

Just one girl’s opinion.

 

Check out my new favorite version of the Bible to read.

(Note: Amazon links are affiliate links.)


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Me and 5,000 of My Closest Friends

It’s been a long couple of months. Honestly, I feel like like I’ve been in a haze. It’s just about “go time” for me with my job. The days have been long, the nights have been short, and the work has been steady, sometimes overwhelming. In my day gig, I’m the event marketing director at Orange. And most of my year, about 80% or more actually, is spent on The Orange Conference.

I can’t believe it, but we’re only 11 days away from hosting people at the Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Ga! Yep, just me and 5,000 of my closest friends gathering to learn and have a little fun. My company, Orange, will be bringing together church leaders from all over the world to rethink the traditional church model’s approach to family ministry. We are all about partnering the home and the church to work together to better influence the faith of the next generation. (Red represents the heart of the family and yellow represents the light of the church. Orange is a bridge.)

Sure, we’ve got some big names like Andy Stanley and Craig Groeschel coming, but usually the more exciting people to hobnob with are the people I haven’t heard of, and hearing stories from church leaders implementing the Orange Strategy in their context. It’s always touching to hear how our work is affecting local communities, as well as brainstorm, troubleshoot or simply listen to their stories. Some situations are the same, and many are different, but it’s cool to be on the journey with these churches as they minister to others. It makes the long work days with it.

We’re going to laugh a lot, and learn a lot. We’ll have hijinks and heartwarming moments. We’ll be more tired than we are now, but it’ll all be worth.

So if you aren’t busy April 25-27, make plans to join us. And if you’d like to come and serve as a volunteer, that’s available too. We’ll be glad to see you either way.

For more info, visit www.TheOrangeConference.com. Stay tuned for a recap!