According to Starbucks’ website, the giant American Coffeehouse could offer over 383 billion drink combinations due to the sheer number of menu customizations and personalization options. By combining base drinks with options for dairy, syrups, espresso shots, sizes, temperature, and toppings, the drink possibilities are virtually endless. Americans enjoy ordering their custom-designed drinks more than drinking their coffee! The order expresses your personality and identity! Reddit reported this one: Venti mocha cookie Frappuccino with 2%, 6 pumps mocha, ex caramel and mocha drizzle, extra whip, ex cookie crumble, ex praline topping ex dark choc curls 2 pumps toasted white mocha ex sugar cookie topping 4 pumps dark caramel ex caramel crunch light apple drizzle 3 pumps frap roast 9 java chip scoops, double blended, and cinnamon powder! In Egypt, coffee comes in only three options, based on how much sugar you want added: “Sadah” (black), “Mazbootah” (just right), and “Zeyadah” (extra)! Coffee is meant to be drunk sitting down; there is no drive-through service; you need to take your coffee-drinking experience seriously.
Americans consume an estimated 146 billion to 169 billion cups of coffee every year. That averages out to about 400 to 460 million cups daily across the caffeinated nation. An American coffee drinker, on average, will drink 3 cups per day, about 1,095 cups annually. I go to a coffee shop once or twice a day. I prefer local independent coffee shops; where they don’t ask me about my name: Mojo Coffee Gallery in Northeast, Munkabeans and the Depot in Hopkins, Sovereign Grounds in South Mpls, are my favorites, where they offer more than just coffee, nice vibes, eclectic ambiance, authentic characters, and comfort welcoming places, I also occasionally go to chains like Caribou where they have reliable WI Fi, no Starbucks for me to sterile. A coffee shop is our third place, other than work and home, and since I work from home, so it’s my 2nd place from home. I try different coffee shops based on my mood, or what I’m going to be doing: writing, video editing, or reading! At coffee shops, I like starting conversations with strangers and exchanging stories. Last week I stopped at a local coffee shop; the shop is modern in its concept: lots of color lighting, white chairs, white tables, white walls, with mostly white customers.
The coffee shop is cash-free, and the bathroom is touch-free -operated; coffee is wrapped in a warmer cup; a no-contact sport. People sit with their laptops and phones, avoiding personal contact, going online, where lonely people talk to other lonely people. On the bathroom door, a sign says “all genders welcome,” underneath a “ Customers only” sign; you must buy something to be included! People come with dogs, bicyclists with their gears walking like big ants, for a brief break, bragging about how many miles they rode today; you can see young mothers with their yoga/Legges carrying their toddlers for morning coffee chat; their babies are strapped on their backs, chests, or confined in strollers, practicing hand-free parenting! A white woman fully exposing her breasts is breastfeeding her child, briefly, freeing them from Victoria’s Secret confinement. Protected by her white privilege, a black mother exposing her breasts in public is too much for white sensitivity. However, a white woman breastfeeding on the front page of a May 2012 cover of TIME magazine. The cover featured Jamie Lynne Grumet, a 26-year-old mother, breastfeeding her nearly four-year-old son, Aram, with the controversial tagline “Are You Mom Enough?”
The staff of the coffee shop is diverse and inclusive; young men, women, white, blacks, Hispanics; lots of pierced noses, tongues, and lips; a young man wearing a skirt; next to him/her, a woman with a beard; standing behind the counter, writing customers’ names on their cups! The young barista looked at me, not saying a word.
_ Black coffee and Espresso, please! I asked with a smile!
She looked at me as if she had never talked to a live human before; she hid her face behind the ordering screen … suddenly walked to the backroom and vanished; returned later with the manager.
What seems to be the problem… he inquired!
I asked for a black coffee and an espresso.
The man touched the screen a few times, showing the young barista how it’s done!
“I hope my order didn’t ruin her morning … I told the manager!
No, no,,,, she just didn’t understand your accent! said casually! As if that explained everything!
I didn’t know I had an accent; I mussed!
Not at all, she just had a problem with your English. He clarified!
What English? I wondered. I ordered coffee and Expresso. Coffee is an Arabic name (qahwah (قَهْوَة ) and Expresso is an Italian name! Not much English here!!
The manager looked stunned, and as a way of reflexive recovery,
What is your name? he asked!
Aha… I said quickly, Aha, is the sound of the first half of my name, Ahmed, but also in Egyptian Arabic, Aha (spelled أحّا) is a highly popular and versatile slang exclamation of exasperation, objection, or disbelief. It is often translated as No Shit!”
Ahmed Tharwat
Host/Producer of the Arabic American TV show BelAhdan
WWW.Ahmediatv.com
Follow him on Substackl
ahmediatv.substack.com
