I am the owner of Bad Ass Coffee Co. in North Bend and

I am writing in regards to Anita Florence’s letter [Jan. 18] and

how outraged she is.

Bad Ass Coffee Co. is an actual coffee company from

Hawaii. Bad Ass Coffee Co. has been in business since 1989 and has

franchise stores throughout the country and now in North Bend.

We are a wonderful little donkey store that is trying to bring

a little of the Hawaiian spirit to North Bend with our

wonderful lines of Kona coffee. We’re not out to offend people, as our sign

does show our donkey, which is on every product we sell, along

with our name and what we think about our name:

“Ass: Any number of horse-like perissodactylous

mammals (family equidae) having long ears and a short mane, especially

the common wild ass (equus asine) of Africa. Donkeys and burros

are domesticated asses.”

Kenneth G. Lightweis

North Bend