earlier today i was behind a woman in pain quotidien who was ordering a cup of coffee. that one cup of coffee took longer than necessary. size of cup, type of milk, type of bag - it went on and on. after paying, she went over to the table that holds sugars, napkins and other stuff and then complained she couldn't find a sleeve for the cup. i can't get over how needy people have become. damn, it's just a cup of coffee.
i blame burger king's 1970s campaign have it your way. i think this may have started people thinking that everything can actually be their way. in the late 80s we met sally in the movie when harry met sally. the character of sally was one of the most high maintenance women ever depicted in a movie. no meal was ordered without specific instructions as to how she'd like it. but truly the biggest culprit of all is starbucks. even though they started serving coffee in the early 70s, i really doubt buyers had the choice short, tall, grande or venti, 1/2-caf, skim latte until the 90s. omfg, it's just a cup of coffee.
how did we become so needy that outside of our own home and family we expect people to care this much about us? maybe it's the $4 or $5 we pay for each cup of coffee that makes us more entitled. or maybe the commercials and movies have trained us to feel this way. or maybe we've just lost some perspective of what's really important and the cup of coffee receives the same attention to detail that say a career would have in the past. coffee...career...career...coffee. i can see how the two have gotten confused.
wwcd: i'm making "perspective" the word of 5771
"omfg, it's just a cup of coffee." Au contraire, my dear. This defines us nowadays - "they" are one of "them"; you know, the privileged set. The masses are just emulating what they think the classes do - blame TV, movies, commercials, magazines, TMZ, page six, reality "stars", etc. Don't you know who I am? I am important, I order my coffee a certain way - soy, dry, extra hot, half caf, half decaf, short but in a tall cup with one and a half splenda mixed in thank you. I'm in the know, did you get that? Then, I amble into my Range Rover, and I demand my coffee a certain way. I am special. Did you see I have a Chanel/Hermes/LV bag - see? Have you noticed yet how important i am?
ReplyDeleteTake away the car, the bag, etc... but it still it comes down to this:
If it was just a cup of coffee, they would be at the corner deli.
I remember when you would go to someone's house, and eat what was served, instead of the phone calls and emails before asking if anyone had any food "issues." Also, when did restaurants start listing all the ingredients in a dish? That just begs people to ask for their dish without or without... a la "When Harry Met Sally."
ReplyDeletefrom aunt judy...
ReplyDeleteI am a little perplexed.....possibly the price of what we order..the lack of fine service, if there is service,..lots of help yourself eateries. I'm old fashioned...I enjoy good service and am prepared to pay for that service. I will make a comment if I feel something is not right..food rare, overcooked, cold. I also call over the owner or manager and compliment the service - it goes both ways.
Mortons sent me a survey after dining there one evening...Don and I are regulars. it was a very busy night and they wanted my critique. I specifically made mention by name of our server who happened to be great...even spoke to the head chef when we left.
The lady with the coffee fiasco had issues....bad day, illness, the whatever is always a barometer as to how we will respond to something that we feel is not right or going our way. I had a melt down yesterday at my super market...frustrated as hell because the only return lady was assisting someone sending a overseas something or other. I was in a hurry, just came from the doctor, and lost it. the lady behind me said, u should learn to be patient.....it's not worth it she said. I took a deep breath and smiled at her and said are u of the Jewish faith? she said yes, and I wished her a happy new year...all was well. some people can't sweat the small stuff..I plead guilty.
beautiful encapsulation of how lost we are in the depth of our desire and grasping.
ReplyDeleteeach thing defines us, these "choices" confused with defining ourself. taking "our preferences" as attributes of who we are. imprisoned in privilege and ego we expect others to respond and serve. we have become the playground for the tyranny of capitalist commercialism. commodity is personal, choice is self, the cup of coffee represents.
who do we trap behind the counter? asking others to make us into ourselves.
perhaps patience has little to do with this. oh pity the ones who do not know what they want, for whom their simple order of "a cup of coffee" will not suffice. look what we have done to ourselves!
masterful entry. thank you. happy new year and may the sun shine, the rain fall, the hearts beat and stop beating, the songs of living and the songs of dying bring us closer to celebrating that which we already are: a divine, eternal, part of this marvelous mystery.