The Clash of the Coffee Cups

I am usually not a big coffee drinker and prefer to get energy by enjoying simple things in life, a nice walk in the park, an early morning workout or a high protein breakfast, but for some, coffee is the drug of choice to get them moving in the morning. In the work world, there seems to be some code where the coffee you buy is a reflection of your status in life.

Peculiarly enough, I have been studying this phenomenon for weeks and have concluded some things. For those Wall-Streeters, Starbucks seems to be king. Those little mocha-latte-venti-double shot-yadda-yaddas seem to be all the rage for commuters past Chambers Street in downtown Manhattan. The sleek design of these cups are easily recognizable and I guess this may be indicative of the investment banking types....branding is important so make your first impression the best. However, for us "workin' class folk" I have noticed that we tend to choose Dunkin' Donuts or corner store coffee varieties. Not that these are any less better, but they are less of a burden on our budgets.

The showdown often doesn't happen on the trains, but when we arrive at work each day....that's when the battle begins. Each morning when I arrive at work, I like to watch as each of my co-workers arrives yielding their sword (coffee cup) in hand. The corner store coffee crew comes in at two waves 8AM and 9AM with their 7-11 super milky coffees that reflect their lack of taste for coffee save it having a lot of milk and sugar. The mid-morning crew is the Starbucks crew with coffee that is semi-dark and finally comes the boss, who...you guessed it....drinks his coffee BLACK. And this isn't coffee that you would buy at Starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts, this is gourmet coffee imported from some remote island that only him and one other person in all of Manhattan are privileged enough to drink at the moment.

As I sit back with my oatmeal and Greek yogurt, I wonder how this all started. How we are all sizing each other up based on our ability to buy coffee....a beverage that many of us don't like but feel it is part of the working code that we must all participate in. Can a man or woman be measured by the amount he/she decides to spend on coffee?

Well, luckily for me, I will finally be able to participate in this battle until the end of the month.....why, you ask?....Well, one of our patients who decided to give me a treat for allowing her to arrive 30 minutes late for her appointment decided to bless me with Dunkin' Donuts free iced coffee booklet good for the entire month of June. I wouldn't actually spend my own resources to be part of this battle.....I will leave that for another one that I am passionate about.......say maybe lunchbox brawls.....!