So I'm wandering around in Williams Sonoma the other day. I like this store and the many fun kitchen gadgets and gizmos that are happily placed on the shelves. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I see a glint of shiny metal. I turn around and there it is - in all it's glory sitting atop a perch in the front display window - the espresso machine.
Wow, I think what a nice machine. I say this aloud and my friend comments on how expensive it is. Well, surely, it can't be that expensive - maybe $200/$300 - and that would be a lot in my book. Oh no, the price tag was an egregious $4,000! HA! $4,000 for a machine that gurgles out the amount of coffee akin to a what Brennan used to barf up (which was not a lot).
I am astounded that someone would pay that much when they'll get the equivalent of 5 full cups of coffee for the rest of their lives. I mean I like coffee, but really a down payment on a car (or purchasing a pretty good used one) or two inches of java? Such a tough decision! Better yet, I was reading an article in Newsweek about how Las Vegas and Orlando have passed laws that don't allow for feeding homeless persons in parks anymore (as if that will make homelessness disappear). I wonder if those lawmakers have a $4,000 espresso machine sitting in their kitchen. Maybe if all the espresso machine buyers in the world pooled together their money a work program for the homeless could be initiated or money sent to refugees in Darfur or for the AIDS pandemic in Africa. Maybe even for impoverished villagers in Columbia to give access to better social services...I hear the coffee there is pretty good.
2 comments:
Hey Bridgette! We have a blog too! I commented on Don's a while back, but never heard back from him. I guess he is a pretty busy guy! Back to you post, $4000 is an outrageous amount of money!!! I can't even fathom having that much money!
Hi Bridgette,
In a book called "I Rigoberta Menchu" I learned a little bit about the plight of the Guatamalan Indians. These people are exploited to pick coffee beans. They work extremely long hours in horrible working conditions for terrible pay. Now, I come from Canada, where Tim Hortons is huge. There are drive-throughs for people to line up in the morning without having to get out of their cars so that they can buy a single cup of coffee. This ticks me off for two reasons. One, with so many cars idling and spewing CO2 into the atmosphere our planet is being poisoned. Two, I think of the lives ruined or even destroyed over coffee beans. I firmly say "down with coffee!" (not just because it tastes bad) And I personally boycot Tim Hortons and the like until the drive-throughs come down and the people are no longer exploited.
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