How much is good coffee worth?

Today I decided to try getting McDonald's coffee on the way to work. The small black coffee that I purchased:

• was $1.00 (I thought it would be $0.99 or less)
• was burnt
• was just slightly above tepid
• had room for cream (even though I asked for no room).
• had a fancy plastic lid that forced the coffee up into my lip rather than my mouth, which would have hurt me if the coffee was actually hot

Additionally, I had to wait in a line of cars to get said coffee.

If I had gone to Starbucks or Brennan's or one of many other coffee places that the media refers to as selling "$4 coffee," I could have had the same drink, but

• It would have been $1.25.
• It would have been fresh and tasty.
• It would have been hot.
• It would have been filled to the brim.

If the McD's coffee was $0.50, then I might have been able to overlook this... but for only $0.25 more, I think the "designer" coffee is much better.

You have to work HARD to buy $4 coffee at a place like Starbucks. Usually your drink has to involve milk and froth and lots of other ingredients that make it stop being a "coffee." That's why those drinks are NOT called "coffees." A coffee can be served to you in a few seconds, while a more exotic drink takes time to prepare. That's why those other drinks cost more.

So good coffee is a quarter more than bad coffee. Now that I know the value of good coffee, I hope I won't make the mistake of buying bad coffee again.

Balsamic Brain Waves and Primate Grooming

It's hard not to eavesdrop
when sitting at a crowded coffee shop.
Unavoidably, you notice all the sounds,
of people making their discussion rounds.
Amazing is the trash you hear
as vocal hominadae primates groom the ear.

"Avoid Panera's tomatoes," says one.
"For diets, balsamic vineagar is no fun!"
Questionable is this advice,
for balsamic vinegar to one's health is quite nice.
Nevertheless, her nodding partner in this chat
continues to sip from her soda pop scat.

"I have been listening to this study groove
which, to my alpha waves, are said to improve,"
says another, who stands quite tall,
and shows that he knows nothing about medicine at all;
earlier, he described the work for his PhD
which seems to involve sociology.

It just goes to show
that regardless of what a man or woman does know,
words are chosen not to be appropriate
but rather as a way to procrastinate.
After all, instead of writing this poetic observation,
I should be getting ready for my thesis examination.