Recently I had a fascinating conversation with my mother about what exactly constitutes a “sport”. I do not remember exactly how it started, but we got fully onto the topic after we began talking about the NNHS Esports and Chess Teams. I asserted that both of those activities, as well as other competitions like Fishing, were indeed, sports. I then expanded this definition to include other competitive environments like Debate, Model UN, Show Choir, and more. My mother, who was a nationally ranked hammer thrower during her career at Dartmouth College, vehemently disagreed, believing that sports require, to at least some degree, conventional physical activity. We never really settled on a concrete definition, so in an effort to convince as many people as possible of my case, and consequently (hopefully) my mother, outlined below is my argument. I will attempt to do this by performing a proof by contradiction, presenting common counterarguments and then refuting them. 

1. “Activities like Debate and Chess cannot be considered sports because there is no exercise involved” – While this may seem like sound logic at first, consider that these competitions do involve exercise, but rather than of the body, the exercise is of the mind. The brain, while admittedly not a muscle, expends a great deal of the body’s energy much like other conventionally exercised parts do. The brain is also trained while participating in or preparing for these activities, exactly as muscles are. The similarities are truly too abundant to consider exercise of muscles and the brain two entirely separate concepts
2. “People who partake in these activities are unathletic” – This claim is not only widely offensive and reductive, but it is also flatly wrong. Athleticism comes in many forms, beyond simply cardiovascular endurance or strength. Consider that Esports requires an incredibly high level of dexterity and hand eye coordination, two key components of athleticism. Even speech-based competitions requires an athletic mind, which is crucial to any sport, as outlined by the American Psychological Association (1), stating that “excelling in sports requires more than muscles and physical prowess”
3. “Not enough people agree that these activities are sports, nor are there consistent televised events for any of them” – This is a fairly common argument, but it unfortunately falls victim to a common logical fallacy: popularity is not the same as validity. Many people can believe one thing, and it can still be wrong; look no further than the ages of scientific repression, where the majority of people believed in faulty concepts like the four humors or in the Earth-centric solar system. This is all to say that accuracy does not always necessitate agreement amongst everyone. This argument, therefore, supports nothing and is simply an observation. In other words, an activity can be a sport regardless of what individual people think; rather, its classification requires a more quantifiable or observable metric, like those outlined above
4. “If something like Model UN is considered a sport, where is the line between a sport and a plain competition?”” The answer to this question, as is the trend for most things, remains up for debate. However, there remain some key factors which can help distinguish the two. In my opinion, a sport must contain two or more of the following elements: a team component, a training period, some amount of exercise (see point #1), a ranking/placing system, and is widely accessible or enjoyable. This is most certainly not a comprehensive list, but the jist is essentially that competitions are typically more individual and one-time focused. 

Finally, what is and is not considered a sport is a relatively small part of our social dialogue, but what is important is respecting and validating the interests of everyone. Too often have I seen someone’s genuine passion derided or chastised because it is not a sport and is therefore not serious and worthwhile, myself included. And while I am not an expert by any means, it is my firm belief that expanding our definition of sports could go a long way in legitimizing and destigmatizing many people’s authentic pursuits. Everyone deserves to be passionate about something, and no one deserves to be ridiculed for their passion being unconventional or unique. And for those who still vehemently oppose this idea, I ask: what about sports is so sacred that we cannot be a bit more inclusive in our definition? What do we have to lose by creating a healthier dialogue around people’s interests? And ultimately, who are we to judge anyone else for the things they partake in?

(1) https://www.apa.org/monitor/2019/03/athletic-brain 

The culture and process around being a Starbucks barista has been a hot topic recently among a number of online forums, so in an effort to help alleviate confusion, here are my answers to some commonly asked questions, as Starbucks barista myself:

Question 1: Do all Starbucks baristas hate making Frappuccinos? 

This is probably the question that I see asked the most often, and the short answer is that the question itself is a little misleading. In general, making a Frappuccino is not difficult, and as such most baristas generally tolerate seeing them ordered occasionally. However, since Frappuccinos are most commonly ordered by younger people, who generally come in crowds or teams, the prospect of making them becomes much more loathsome. Frappuccinos, just by virtue of their standard recipe, take longer to craft than most of our other drinks, and so when they are ordered by hoards of children, our production nearly grinds to a halt. This is especially problematic since we are timed on our production speed, which drastically decreases when we are bogged down by an endless stream of Frappuccinos, consequently decreasing the satisfaction of other customers who now have to wait exponentially longer for their drinks. Such a situation can lead to arduous conversations with our managers, who expect a certain degree of swiftness, regardless of the drinks we make. And while one might think that we can just work on something else while the Frappuccinos are being blended in order to reduce our average times, that is often not possible as so many other drinks use our limited supply of blenders. The long and short of it all is that the process of making a Frappuccinos is not what we hate, but the way they decrease our productivity and the way they jeopardize our standing with our managers is what we hate.

Question 2: What is the most annoying drink you have ever had to make?

This is a really tough question because I certainly have had to make my fair share of obnoxious orders, but there definitely is one that takes the cake. That order is as follows: a venti iced brown sugar oatmilk shaken espresso with two extra shots, four pumps of brown sugar syrup, two pumps of white mocha syrup, a splash of heavy cream, line the cup with caramel, pumpkin cold foam, extra caramel drizzle, and cinnamon powder. And in a brutal twist of fate, I had to make that drink during our morning rush.

Question 3: What kind of customers are the most frustrating to serve?

Working at any food service job has one bound to interact with all manner of difficult or malicious people, but for me personally, I am always the most irritated by are those who cannot admit when they are wrong. Those people typically fall into one of two categories: one, customers who forget to order something but say they did, expecting it for free; two, customers that ordered their drink wrong and blame us for it tasting wrong. In either case though, the frustrating part is knowing that I am right and that they made a mistake, but being forced to accommodate for it, while often assuming blame myself. Not only that, but those accommodations, per Starbucks code, are free, meaning that the company loses money, which ultimately affects our wages. And since I am not one who likes being wrong or being underpaid for an incredibly taxing job, it is fairly clear to see why these customers irritate me so much. However, I do recognize that some people do genuinely make mistakes and are kind about it, so for those people, I never mind doing what they ask. But where I get enraged to an unhealthy degree is when people act entitled to services they did not pay for nor were nice enough to receive on my good graces. 

Question 4: Why are so many Starbucks locations unionizing?

In all honesty, I do not think I have an entirely holistic answer to this question, but I definitely have a few observations that I would like to lay out, which probably contribute to the surge in unionization. Note however, that my store is not currently unionized, so I cannot speak to the quality of unionship that baristas are a part of. That being said, consider the following: Starbucks policy mandates that baristas almost universally have to accept the abuse from customers, to ensure that they come back, leaving us little recourse; unfortunately like most working environments, sexual harassment remains prevalent at many stores, including mine, with very little repercussions for those who partake; corporate profits are at a record high, yet stores remain understaffed and with consistent maintenance issues; and managers are cutting down hours for baristas, meaning shifts contain less employees, leading to a great deal of stress among baristas trying to compensate for the lack of labor. All of these things paint a clear picture that Starbucks corporate cares solely about their bottom line, which is a crushing reality that, with its dangerous effects, leads many stores to unionize.

Question 5: Why do Starbucks employees complain so much?

I have seen this question asked a lot online, with many people chastising baristas for being lazy or intolerant. However, I firmly believe that anyone who genuinely believes that Starbucks employees complain any more than other service jobs has clearly never worked on themselves. When one works in an environment where they are forced to deal with anyone from the saints to the supervillains of the world, complaints and frustrations are bound to arise. The only reason why Starbucks employees are criticized more for this is because the corporation has a significant online presence, with many individual baristas having huge followings and many drinks going viral almost daily. In other words, the hatred comes from overexposure, and is not based in any objective reality.