Here in Gurgaon, India, I became acquainted with a man from Arkansas who teaches English at call centers. Pretty cool guy. A year after our first brief encounter, he wanted to meet me again.
I did. So we went to the mall, and he suggested a coffee shop where he had gone before. Costa Cafe, it was called, probably a foreign brand.
“Man, I haven’t eaten anything this morning. All I had was two cups of coffee, so that was enough to keep me active”, he said.
I was surprised - two cups of coffee! He then told me, “It was not exactly a cup, but much bigger. Two mugs of coffee. Not the smaller cups you normally have here. I love coffee.”
So we figured that our trip to the coffee shop could also be a light meal.
There, he ordered a “medium” size coffee, with him specifying all the ingredients. He was like an expert on coffee. I just ordered some of whatever that was on the menu, and a small dessert.
The so-called medium size cup was actually a giant chalice! He said, “I only ordered a medium size cup, because I already had two coffees in the morning.” On the side was his cupcake. Damn, both were enough to be a whole meal (but he was twice my size). His coffee had one thick thick layer of cream with all the powdery stuff at the top, and he gladly mixed it around.
I was having something much lighter - their iced cappucino and a small brownie.
Yet, whatever I had was enough to leave me wasted. Damn, that was heavy. Very heavy. Not just on the belly, but on the head. And the chest. Like the body’s blood was getting warmer and I was feeling it in my heart. My head was also feeling funny after having had all that. The American told me that he had several mugs of coffee four days a week. He also told me he was relatively moderate in it, because many Americans go to the coffee shop like a daily ritual. He just made sure to have enough without becoming an addict, “which leaves you having strong withdrawals when you don’t have it”. I often noted that despite him being a very intelligent person, his mind was somewhat shut at the end of this brunch. He still was a serious speaker, but he often became incoherent and digressive.
I am just amazed. It just slowly dawned on me. This stuff is just not good for you in any capacity. And millions of Americans drink this stuff in unimaginable quantities on a regular basis. All those who go to Starbucks and other such places - they are destroying their minds very effectively, but slowly. They don’t seem to notice it, or they take it for granted.
