Whenever we have family get-togethers with Greg’s side of the family, we’ll usually hear some good natured ribbing from Greg’s younger sister. She is seven years younger than Greg. They’d play together when they were kids, but Greg would dominate in every game. He never let her win. Greg will be 40 this year, but he still can’t live down the “abuse.”

Greg is a bit of an overachiever (even when he’s not abusing the little guy), as are the majority of homeschoolers. It makes sense that Subway wants homeschoolers to take their bat and go home. If you don’t let them play, they can’t decimate the competition.

Subway is holding an essay contest for school children. Here’s who can enter: “legal US residents, over the age of 18 with children in either elementary, private or parochial schools that serve grades PreK-6. No home schools will be accepted.”

Now, it’s possible that Subway excluded homeschoolers since the grand prize is athletic equipment for the child’s school. Fair enough. It’s not like homeschoolers patronize parks or church playgrounds or community centers. But the bigger suspicion is that homeschoolers are kind of like my husband—they never let anyone else win at anything. From national test scores to the annual Spelling Bee, homeschoolers dominate. This isn’t a rah-rah for the homeschoolers, as I’ll get to my criticism next. It’s always dangerous to analyze motives, though. I’m married, so I know this.

The homeschool blogs are having a heyday with this public relations mistake. But I agree with Jube Dankworth who writes, “As a private corporation, Subway is free to include or exclude anyone from their essay contest, and can set up the rules of their contest as they see fit. So why — beside the blatant misspellings that even the eight-year-olds caught [which are now fixed…--Amy] — are homeschoolers so offended by this?” Go ahead and take your business elsewhere. That’s good. But stop with the discrimination charges.

Why don’t we independent types support autonomous businesses to do what they want with their money? It is not public money; it belongs to Subway to do whatever they want with it. If homeschooling exists because of the freedom allowed by the Constitution for parents to raise their children how they see fit (children belong to parents, not the state), then Subway ought to be afforded the same freedoms to give their money to non-homeschoolers (after-tax money belongs to Subway, not the state). It’s consistently applying the same principles, even when we don’t like it.

So, here’s my advice. Save your money. Don’t start a lawsuit. Practice hard for the Scripps National Spelling Bee and eat Quiznos.