I completely agree. Milk in coffee: it sparks
a moral aversion. Like people who sleep late to
avoid hangovers...

Every morning I sit by the milk-and-sugar bar in
the cafeteria and watch people doctor their coffee.
It's fun to try to guess what people will add. Very
satisfying when someone bypasses the bar and
walks out with an unadulterated cup. Black coffee,
good.

On the other side of the moral spectrum are
neologismic beverages: Dunkaccino, Mochalatte,
etc. These are embarassing just to type.

It's actually a funny coincidence that you
mentioned coffee...

I could not face my coffee black this morning. I
ordered the usual and then sheepishly (cow-ishly)
went back and added two-percent. Sat in a corner
and furtively drank my pastel drink. I also had a
bagel, which is doubly weird-- I think whenever I
miss my dad the feeling is sublimated into a
craving for Jewish foods.

Veblen wrote that The cow as an object of taste
must be avoided. I forget the context-- it had
to do with bourgeois ostentation-- but it applies
equally well to Starbucks.

See you on Wed.

C

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