Northbrook Buzzing Over Caribou Controversy

Caribou's regional manager said she wants to make a sincere reconciliation with the Northbrook community, after the manager of the Northbrook Caribou removed a Gay/Straight Alliance decoration painted on the cafe window by Glenbrook North students.

What do you think it would take to improve Caribou's reputation in town? 

Some residents were so shocked by Caribou's actions they said they would stop visiting the cafe. The first commenter in our coverage of the incident wrote, "Absurd! I will never set foot in there again because of this."

Some other Patch readers used this as an opportunity to grow tighter bonds as a community. 

Patch user Gigi wrote, "I hope the kids at GBN can see beyond this one act of intolerance and know that there are many, many people in our community who will accept them, no matter who they love or what they believe."

Eventually, a few commenters criticized homosexuality, including Patch user Kimberly Simmons, who wrote, "Homosexuality, sex changes, bestiality, polyamory, etc.. are wrong! It's that simple!"

But dissenting comments such as Simmons' led to a very touching note by a 13-year-old who wrote "I'm only 13 years old and I know that everyone won't listen to me, but I read all of the comments and all I can see is our world crashing and burning."

The comment goes on to say, "Why? because some, not all, people are non understanding and extremely terrible people who just can't get over the fact that same sex people like each other happens and thats ok! It is not a bad thing and is DEFINITELY NOT a sickness!"

The debate got heated, with more than 65 comments and counting left on the original story. But there was at least one comment that managed to find a sense of humor in the story and people's opinions of the situation. 

After reading through all the comments about the GSA and Caribou, Ed60062's thought on the matter is so clever and light hearted, it always makes me laugh. 

"Isn't there a coffee shop in town anymore where I can simply get a cup of coffee without making a political statement?"

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