Coffee: a sign of the times?

After being phoned by dear Lilybee the other day (and I use dear in the sense it is intended, not the 'worlds greatest mother-dear' or the male version of a Doe-deer, am I rambling again? Probably, ok - time for another bracket ( no, the other one ) there we go, now to be mathematically correct we need another ) in there somewhere - oops, there it went...

You can probably imagine that I am suffering in a fit of hysteria. Or maybe insomnia. Or perhaps even lethalogica (thanks to the collector of purple owls - can I simply call you the purple owl for now?) Regarldess of howmany 'indeed' moments one wishes to interject with, poor Beleobus is suffering from transition sickness (as I shall call it for reasons soon to be discussed)

Actually... Coffee was meant to be the topic of this rant, so perhaps I should quickly return before everyone else ducks out for one...

Back in the 70s coffee became extremely popular (as far as I can gather...) people would start gathering for 'coffee' now I have a small problem with this, not being much of a coffee drinker. When Lilybee drops past my neck of the staffroom and asks me to 'coffee' we don't always depart with the express intention of drinking any. Granted, our destination is usually a cafe, whose supposed primary function is the serving of coffee... does this make any sense??? To do coffee has become a new verb in modern English and it does not neccesarily involve the consumption of caffeinated beverages (hot ones, normally brown).

So in the 70s we had people meeting for coffee - it was the trendy thing to do. Back in the 70s I drank whatever the umbellical (spelling??) cord threw my way.

Then the 80s came around. Coffee was still the trendy thing (growing at a rapid rate) but Cappuccino became the beverage of choice amongst the select fashion followers (henceforth sheep - unless they are Kiwis, in which case they will be called 'square sheep' - work it out.)

In the 80s I'm pretty sure I was a juice drinker (whenever I was allowed of course).

Then we had the massive cafe uprising in the 90s combined with the surge in supermarket Deli sections. The Late now became the coffee of choice, although the only difference most non-barrista people could tell was that it came in a glass. If the sheep knew the French origins of a Late (yesterdays cold coffee mixed with lots of warm milk and drunk for breakfast) then the trend may not have ocurred.

In the 90s I was a coke drinker. Gallons of the stuff when my nerd potential was first realised and part time work ensured some form of income. When university days came along and coffee was useful to staying awake through lectures on cognitive psychology by 130 year old men, I remember expressly being a flat white drinker. The reason is quite simple:

Lygon street (for those who don't know) is basically Little Italy in Melbourne. You can order a Decaf-Soy-Mocachino and not get a raised eyebrow. I was dining with a friend in a reasonably down-beat restaurant just off Lygon street one evening and asked the waiter for a coffee. His response was something along the lines of, 'Certainly... Late, Mocachino, Cappacino, Machiato, Long White, Short Black or Espresso?'

I looked the man in the eye and said, "Listen carefully. I want a COFFEE."

When I asked him what was in the mug infront of me and he responded 'flat white' it has been my choice coffee whenever in the need (which is fortunately quite rare these days).

So if the flat white ever becomes the fashion, I guess I'll have to give up coffee for a while.

Now... transition sickness... Ah, it can wait until next time.