Gateway?

Is Starbucks providing a gateway drug that leads straight to the umbrella drink?

As I waited for my doppio or flatwhite, I watched in fascination as the barista made a green and pink concoction. That touch of vitriol adds a frisson, a bit of danger that makes the whole thing that much more attractive.

The typical mix from the Starbucks menu tends toward the ultra-sweet, extra-caloric, and hyper-colorful. This is true of even their coffees and also the puppy treat they dispense.

Her customers for the pretty green and pink glass were two tweens who placed identical orders. Nonetheless, they each grabbed a straw to sample what first came off the assembly line.

I was distracted, so I did not witness the second share, although it would have only been fair!

Eventually, these girls would graduate (or could) to an alcohol laden very sweet and pretty item at an adult emporium. They might grab a straw to get a fresh taste of what the barkeep had created and then dip the same straw in the next one he made.

Competitive

Putting the pressure on when you’re on the verge of “owning the space” seems like a strange strategy. Yet lately I see ads for YouTube as if they needed to put in an extra fight.

Congress is likely pulling TikTok out of the market. That will leave YouTube to, as they say, be the platform for stories to be told. [They don’t actually say that. I paraphrased their ad.]

Why didn’t they post these ads before?

Eat this

You have an excuse but you do not have permission for not finishing your vegetables.

Some of the green savory things on your plate are technically fruits. It’s not just the tasty avocado either. The cucumber is a seeded edible plant and, therefore, botanically a fruit. I could go on.

Vegetables are not a botanical classification. They may be green or orange [no, the yellow squash has seeds], florets or leaves, or stems.

Enjoy them because they are delicious.  Enjoy them because they are ever so nutritious. Enjoy them because they beautify your meal.

Nomads

There was a time in history when some of us were homebodies while others were wanderers.

Nomads moved around foraging and following game. Settlers farmed or fished (I guess) and built cities for trade and community.

Does such a division still exist between the migratory and the stay-in-place?

There are people who sit still in one place, and people who restlessly move about.

Is this ingrained and hereditary? Is it a choice or serendipity?

Of course, there are those who wander in search of fortune or improved circumstances. There are migrants forced to leave home because of political exigencies.

There are also those of us who seek our careers in one place. My story is one of mixed experiences; we once were migrants but I was young; now I choose to be a New Yorker.