[Firstumemo] Memo: "A Cup of Coffee"

[Memos from Rev. Barbara Merritt and Rev. Tom Schade]

M I N I S T E R’ S  M E M O

“A Cup of Coffee”

It is not true that all cultures are melding together and becoming
indistinguishable from each other. Yes, there are McDonald’s on the Rambla,
the mile-long promenade of shops, booths and street performers in Barcelona,
along with many other more local sidewalk cafes and restaurants. And yes,
the Hard Rock Café has an hour and half wait on a Friday night. But to order
“a cup of coffee” is a reminder of how different and diverse the world can
be, to find that place where globalization ends and particularity begins.

What is “a cup of coffee”? There are many answers to this question. On our
vacation, Sue and I would order a “cup of coffee” and be surprised at what
would come. Sometimes, what would come would be a tiny cup of expresso;
strong, pungent, a jolt of caffeine for those so hurried that a cup of
coffee would slow them down. Sometimes, it would be an expresso diluted with
foamy milk and sugar, smooth and luxuriant and as indulgent as a cup of hot
chocolate with marshmallows. Sometimes it would be something that even
approached a cup of coffee that would be familiar to me. I was tempted to
call this ‘coffee the hard way”, for it would be made from expresso diluted
with boiling water. But never, would we be served something that looked like
what we brewed at home, or ordered at Dunkin’ Donuts, or even at Starbucks.

My Spanish language skills are about at the level required for the spouse of
a head of state visiting a Spanish speaking country. I can sagely comment
that I believe the mountains, the beach, the building, the painting, the
children or the city are ‘muy linda”, or very pretty. I can graciously say
please and thank you. I can ask for the bill in a restaurant, or be directed
to the restroom. My fluency in Spanish is even enough to avoid ordering as
meals organ meats or animals commonly considered cute. But I lack the skills
to convey what I mean by a “cup of coffee” in Barcelona. I know this because
Sue and I tried for several days on our vacation to order a cup of coffee in
such a way as to
get what we expected. It never worked, and was thus, disappointing.

I had no intention of being disappointed in any aspect of this vacation. We
had waited too long for it; too many hours of internet browsing had gone
into finding the flights and accommodations, too many hours sitting on an
overcrowded airplane in what the Defense Department calls “stress inducing
positions” to get there. I was missing the First Unitarian Church Choir CD
Release and the First Unitarian Talents and Treasures Auction, for crying
out loud. I was even missing, although I did not know it at the time, a week
or more of New England’s finest spring showers.
How could these frail shoulders carry the burden of any more disappointment
than that?

Would it be an exaggeration to say that the success of our vacation hung in
the balance?

Well, I suppose it would be.

Fortunately, we chanced upon a solution to the “cup of coffee problem” so
simple and so clever that it saved our vacation from disappointment and
chagrin.
We would order “a cup of coffee” or “un caffe” whenever we wanted one, and,
here is the tricky and clever part; we would then just drink whatever they
brought us without question. Invariably, it would be good. Sometime it would
be tiny and strong, but it would be good. Sometime it would be foamy, but it
would be good. Sometimes, it would be full of milk, but it would be good.

Of course, there is a spiritual lesson here for us all; one of the oldest in
the long history of spiritual teachings. Expectations breed disappointment.
Or desire creates suffering. I knew that. You know that. Everybody knows
that. It just that nobody remembers.

                                 Tom
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mail.firstunitarian.com/pipermail/firstumemo_firstunitarian.com/attachments/20060523/a49b46cc/attachment.html