So I was swinging past Starb*cks on the way back from lunch in order to get an iced coffee to subdue my chocolate cravings. Now I try not to be such a corporate slave.
I wear as few labels as possible. I spend a bit more money at independent designer boutiques, book shops and music stores when I can afford it. I try to go for the no-name stuff as much as possible, even if it is just a no-frills subsidiary of the Real Thing.
It is less of an articulated or strict ethical code than a gut reaction. If I am going to spend my time shopping, I would much rather spend my time and money where they don't terrorize their staff with long lists of corporate jargon to memorize. Where they don't assault me with "regulation volume" top-40 music.
I also don't want to advertise for free (even though I just broke the rule with the coffeechain reference). But I am preaching to the converted here, so I will stop being all blablabla.
But back to coffee: I buy my beans all fair trade-style at a rotisserie for making my coffee at home. But when I am at work, I get the corporate coffee. It goes well with my business-casual attire ;)
Today at that ubiquitous coffee chain, I saw people lining up with me, and all I could think was "paying the corporate coffee tithe".
We pay it daily, then hold the logofied cup before us like an offering as we wait for the elevator, sipping at it gingerly, later placing it beside the computer like a totem.
But think of all the things we could do if we could tap into the coroporate coffee tithe! If we could divert some of the funds into any social cause...this is voluntary taxation in any case...we could add a feel-good hum on top of the caffeine buzz.
I would pay an extra quarter every day for my coffee for that do-gooder buzz. You?
Ok, now the barrista lady says that she has just gotten into a car accident and she is on lots of pain killers (hence the mixup on my order).
Why am I telling you this? This news comes 2 hours after a person I work with told me about her best friend's brother dying in a car accident yesterday. One day after 2 teenage actors from Sarah's company died in a car accident One week after Chris gets hit by a van while riding his bike(despite 2 acrobatic rolls, he was fine) 2 weeks after Nell flips in her car on the way to the cottage (also fine).
Also, last night in the first night of magazine writing class with Elana, we were told to describe highlights of our lives. One woman described arriving at the scene of a car accident in which her daughter has been involved. Her daughter was the only one not taken away in a stretcher. miraculously unscathed. She was also the only one wearing a seatbelt.
What does it means when you experience a inflation/conflation of similarly-themed stories? I am not sure. But let's all wear our seat belts for the next while, K?
