Tuesday, October 09, 2007

In which I make a poor analogy

Some good news at work today led me to visit Starbucks (in celebration, I guess.) The signs at Starbucks, they are convincingly tempting and beautiful. In the greyness of the afternoon, I couldn't help but to order a pumpkin spice latte. Have you seen the picture of this drink? It is delightfully cozy looking, with its foamy, whipped-creamy top, poured nicely into a fall-coloured mug.

If you haven't had this drink before and aren't sure if you will like it, I encourage you to pick something else. Because it is the opposite of good. Oh sure, at first you don't notice the odd aftertaste or the vibrant orange colour of the drink, since it is covered by foam and whipped cream. But then, those things really start to take over and bug you... and the coffee is less and less enjoyable... and then you wonder why you ordered it at all instead of your standard caramel macchiato or dark chocolate mocha (even though that only exists at Blenz.) And then you start to question your own judgment - after all, what fool pays $4 for a drink she doesn't even like?

When you think about it, isn't that just like when you have a crush on someone - you are attracted by the outward good things, but you overlook the not-so-good things (or maybe - you just never knew about them to begin with.) You like that he is attractive, that he is mysterious, that he makes you laugh. Later on, as your crush develops, you discover that the little things you didn't mind so much are really irking you. That neat little way he honked rather than came to your door? The way he never said exactly what he was thinking? The constant finishing of your sentences? All SO IRRITATING. And then you are shocked that you ever liked the person to begin with.

That is, until you find the person who is your dark chocolate mocha on a cold day, the yang to your yin, the right to your left, and all that, and you realize that beneath the foam and whipped cream lies only good things. Right?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The non-metaphorical pumpkin drink has very little actual pumpkin flavour, in my experience.

Also, there's a weird aftertaste.

vespertine said...

this harkens back to our little conversation a while ago...you made me laugh out loud - quite the feat!

next time, call me when you're about to try something new at starbucks and I will gladly get you out of the temporary disillusionment!