Last Updated on: 3rd October 2013, 04:07 pm
No, this isn’t even remotely close to deep or political. The deepest it goes is, wow people are out of it in my town.
There’s this weird coffee store near me. It’s kind of a cool place. There’s a grinder working all the time, and they get blends of coffee that are supposedly made in fair-trade working conditions so little kids aren’t being forced to pick beans and make stuff, etc. Since I’m graduating, I was buying some gifts for some people who have helped me along the way, and I know one of them likes coffee from this store. So I go in there to get him a gift basket. I ask what kind of gift baskets they have, and they tell me they have this one where you get two different kinds of coffee, a chocolate bar, and some tea. Now, here’s my point. The two most popular kinds of coffee they have are Freedom-Fighter, and Chatty Matty.
Chatty Matty I follow, especially if it’s espresso. But what does Freedom-Fighter make you think? To me, it makes me think terrorist. Isn’t that what some terrorists call themselves?
Unable to contain myself, I call the store, blocking my number of course. I ask them what’s in the coffee called Freedom-Fighter. She flatly says, “It’s a blend of Guatemalan and Peruvian coffee.” Surprised that she doesn’t want to know why I’m curious, I can’t leave it alone. I say, “the reason I’m curious is because when I think Freedom-Fighter, I think terrorist, and can’t figure out how coffee and terrorists go together.” The reaction is, well, priceless! First it was..”I’ve never had anyone ask me that before.” then “Um, I didn’t name it….” Then it’s “I never thought about it…” then it’s “well, I guess you can take it any way you want to…I just think someone’s fighting for their freedom.” After assuring her that I wasn’t appalled or anything, just more laughing than anything else, and saying that was the only reason I called, I let the poor befuddled clerk go.
Then I got to thinking, wow, people in this town really live in bubbles. Think about it. If it is one of their most popular blends of coffee, how can at least one other person have not asked that question? Do people not think any more? And, how can it have never crossed her mind that freedom-fighter means terrorist to most people, unless she’s lived under a rock and never heard the term except in the context of coffee? Part of me says she reacted that way because she’s getting paid by the store, and so, to protect their good name, she sort of played dumb. But oh no, the amount of shock and complete surprise in her reaction tells me she honestly had never had that idea float into her head. It just surprises me. I admit that I don’t read and watch as much news as I should, but I at least have a general understanding of what’s going on around me!
