the taste, and the smell, and the gesture
I love coffee... It’s not about the caffeine. I have largely renounced caffeine. I say largely because I know that the decaf I now drink all day isn’t entirely caffeine-free. My attachment to coffee is about the taste, and the smell, and the gesture. ...
These days, no one is “always there” with a coffee cup in his hand; nor is there anyone around with a cigarette. No decent person keeps the coffee pot brewing all day. No one would dream of drinking that much caffeine. No one would dream of sitting still all day to schmooze.
The only people who would are perhaps just the sort who might sneak out into the garden to smoke an occasional cigarette when their kids aren’t looking. Appealing people, I might be tempted to say. People who live in the grip of their passions. But suspect.
Warner, 1/24/08 NYT
Comments
You know, I had forgotten this, but my mother was the one who kept the coffee pot on and ready to pour all day. All day. She one of those old perculator-type pots. And for her-- and her generation I suppose-- coffee is what you had available to serve at an instant's notice, for a neighbor or a worker stopping by the house to repair something, or whatever.
Posted by: billie | January 26, 2008 1:41 PM
Your story reminds me fondly of my dad, a bachelor and retired farmer:
My dad still keep his coffee pot on all day. He drinks approx. 10-12 cups a day, at least, and he doesn't drink decaf. It's actually amazing to behold. His coffee cup is permanently stained brown, all except for the top quarter inch or so. A few months ago, he trusted Bunn broke on him. TRAGEDY! While he sent it away to fixed he resorted to an odd combination of heating water in an old half-broken coffee pot and then pouring it manually over the grounds (in a filter) directly into his cup. I'd say he's addicted.
Posted by: Lynn168 | January 27, 2008 8:47 PM
B - I think so, about it being a generational thing.
L - That is truly heroic. (btw, I hope it was clear that this isn't my story. It's an excerpt from Judith Warner's last NYT column.)
Posted by: Krista | January 28, 2008 8:23 AM