COFFEE, TOO, HAS BECOME A POLITICAL ACT
BY DAN VALENTI
PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY
(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, THE WEEKEND EDITION JUNE 15-17, 2018) — Last week THE PLANET enjoyed morning coffee at a well-known local coffee house. We asked for “a cup of coffee.”
Are we ever going to learn?
It used to be you went into a diner or sat behind a counter and requested a “cuppa joe.” The waitress or a guy named Bing working the counter immediately drew and brought out a steaming brew. It came in a thick, heavy, ceramic cup — cream colored or gray — that had survived the Great Depression and World War II. Ground coffee, ground ghosts of memory.
The waitress looked like Thelma Ritter. Bing had the mein of a bouncer and/or hockey coach, John Goodman with a crew cut. Bing’s diner had the ambience of a friendly pool hall. The chipped cups had heft and gravitas. These mugs “contained” the coffee, which was hot as fire and black as coal, in a way that today’s disposable cardboard dunce caps cannot do. Bing’s mugs gave coffee a permanence. Cardboard treats coffee as a throwaway kin. The entire experience took place in simplicity and linoleum. Coffee cost a dime.
The young waitress — check that. The “barista” began with an interrogation: “Do you want light roast, medium roast, or dark roast? … What size? We have grande, largesso, and supremo? … Domestic or internationale? … Extra shot? … batch roasted or free roasted? … Caramel mocha or Mocha allegrato?” The options continued until we blurted: “Coffee. Regular. Black. Medium. I’m not going to MIT, get my gradutate degree is finite absolutes just to get a ‘cuppa joe.'”
A woman before us actually asked if the coffee beans were ground that day and if they had been purchased from companies that had signed the Sustainable Acreage Act? Was the coffee “green?” Were the beans from local roaster? Which one? She couldn’t help herself. She was a millennial. On the walls, various framed art, if we can call it that, having to do with rape screamed its unintentional desperation. The Warhol-ish Obama campaign poster shouted its “HOPE.” We’re sure some thought it iconic, unable as they are to know between that and “ironic.”
Finally, after doing the long math, we ordered, surrendered nearly four bucks, and joined our table.
Coffee, we realized, had like everything else today become a political act. The Starbucks effect has made of coffee and its houses an act of “buy in.” If you get your java at one of these impossibly hip places, you are assumed to be one with the tribe. This undefinable reality wore its politics as deftly as the barista wore here face piercing and tattoos. We see regret in her future, found in a mirror 40 years from now.
Later that day, we took a walk in the woods and through farmland, hip-mo-tized by the seemingly infinite variety of plants and trees: ferns, sorrel, dandelions, grasses, water plants, burdock, violets, butterbur, leeks, maples, birches, ash, oak. Animals too: chipmunks, squirrels, a raccoon, deer tracks, sparrows, crows, cardinals, horses, cows, yellow breasts, robins. There was no end. Fortunately, THE PLANET wasn’t there to order life. We had no choices to make.
We saw no “baristas,” no poster, no “art,” no one trying to “convince” us of anything.
We were free at last, free at last.
————————————————————————————-
“And those who danced were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music” —Friedrich Nietzsche.
“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”
LOVE TO ALL.
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Please write an essay on marijuana.
Mr. Melle,
How come you haven’t reported on your arch-nemesis Andrea Nuciforo, Jr.’s financial interest in marijuana retailing, and investigated how it has come to be that Nuciforo has been able to secure one of those near-impossible to get marijuana sales licenses?
It pay$ to be a corrupt, insider, inbred, dark, mean-spirited…political hack!
Luciforo wants you to smoke his pot!
Seemed like he had a license right out of the gate…go figger….we are all created equal but sometimes things change along the way
Tourists will come to “sushi and joint rolling” classes, Nuciforo said to Berkshire businesses.
Luciforo wants you to smoke pot and make him rich!
https://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2018/06/capitalizing_on_marijuana_indu.html
Happy Friday..
several weeks ago I put my name on a list at city hall to be called when they had new recycling bins in….never heard a word
have you seen the trash along side the road on the road going from the Columbus ave fire station to the big Y? disgusting…who’s ward is this? Has not one city official who passes this way reported it? It is June already..your taxes at work
are they sweeping streets or just inner city? Painting lines? Bet they paint the parade route
Dan, when we want to sit down and enjoy a nice cup of coffee we go to Elm St Lunch. No foolishness, just plain old good coffee served by nice people.
Oh great! Now I won’t be able to get a seat.
lately it’s been packed on weekends. Good for them, great place
Spot on about coffee cups. It’s always strange to me that people who care enough to seek out a quality brew will then choose to drink it out of recycled paper.
Most places that one goes serve coffee in ceramic cups if you’re going to drink it on premises. I hope you don’t believe the story about the woman asking about the Sustainable Acreage Act and the rest of the foolishness. He’s just making up a story. He is right about the tattoos though. 30 or so years from now when their biceps are hanging over their elbows they’ll be asking themselves , WHY.
That’s why the operative word was “choose”.
I choose to drink it out of a Jar.
TM
Ceramic is the only way to properly drink coffee. As for the “Sustainable Acreage Act” woman, the story wasn’t made up. I did hear a woman inquiring about the origin of the beans, with some such nonsense as the “Act” in her queries. True, it didn’t happen at the particular coffee mentioned in my essay, and I don’t know if there even is a “SSA.” Ah, but what is poetic license for? Fact is, there are such coffee snobs. They are invariably Millennial and female. And tattoos? Yes. Lots of regret down the road. As always, thanks for your input, my good friend.
Mike, that is so funny. I’ve often thought the same thing. Huge coffee snobs, but don’t care what they drink it out of.
A south berkshire coffee.There is always Joe’s Diner,surely you aren’t surprised by this.
Spot on, Dan. When companies get political they will usually alienate a certain percentage of their customers. When Starbucks started railing against Christians – that’s when I bought coffee elsewhere. When Macy’s ditched the Trump line of clothing, my family shopped elsewhere. And why is the Obama poster still hanging in the PHS library? I find that offensive.
Little wonder Macy’s closed. Your offended because they have a picture of an ex president on the wall?
Thomas, you make a great point. When I went to school they always displayed the current President’s picture.
True. George Washington used to be up on the wall, too. But the current prez isn’t Obama. It’s Trump. So why isn’t The Donald’s pix on the wall.
By the way the coffee at Dottie’s sucks.
The answer to this dilemma is simple. Cumby’s coffee, easy to pick the right blend, costs a buck. Iced or hot, any size.
Cumby’s IS hard to beat, BULL.
Even better on the 9th hole at Stamford in a sleet storm.
Well, BULL, I wouldn’t go quite that far. A sleet storm on the 9th at Stamford has to rank as the pinnacle, the apex, the nadir, the toppermost. We can at least honestly say we have crossed that off our bucket list.
Cumby’s has great coffee if you can get out of there in one
piece.
You must be talking about the one on First Street.
YIKES!
“We see regret in her future, found in a mirror 40 years from now”. That Dan is one of your greatest lines ever, and so sad but true. The city is littered with people who have made freak shows of themselves, in its stores and its streets. While it is a free country it disgusts me to have to expose my little boy to such sights as pins sticking out of lips and tongues and nose rings and hoola hoops in guys ears and of course tattoos everywhere. Can’t wait til I can afford to move out of this shithole town.
You’re going to have a hard time finding a town without tattoos and body piercing.
Sister,
At least Pittsfield did not make the 50 worst cities to live in list, like Springfield, MA and Hartford, CT (yet)!
https://247wallst.com/special-report/2018/06/10/50-worst-cities-to-live-in-3/
Not sure what criteria they are using to rate the worst cities, but Pittsfield has a higher poverty rate than all of the top ten worst cities.
FACT: In Pittsfield, all K – 6 public school students receive free lunches.
Pat is correct about Poverty in Pittsfield!
Pittsfield is one of the most economically unequal communities in the state and nation.
There are no full-time, living wage jobs for the average worker in Pittsfield. Instead of one $20/hour full-time job with benefits, the average worker has to work 3 $12/hour part-time jobs with no benefits.
When I lived in the Pittsfield area in my mid-to-late 20’s about a decade-plus-half ago, I believed I had better odds winning the state lottery jackpot than finding a job. Those were terrible odds back then. Since then, Pittsfield has lost thousands of people to population loss and hundreds of jobs to job loss.
The Good Old Boys and vested interests have their proverbial heads buried in the sand! The rest of us get to pound sand!
Tell em DTR sentcha
Pittsfield didn’t make the list because it didn’t even rate to be considered. There’s a category of
"worst" that doesn't consider irrelevant.Thank God Stockbridge is still a elitist town,no tattoo s there and nose rings are a 100 dollar fine in Barirngton.
Do you put Bourbon or Rye in your morning coffee?
We love elitist.
Kelly’s Diner in Coltsville for me. Served in a chipped ceramic cup. Delish…
Henry, I agree Kelly’s is great.
Ringy ding ding
Where ave you gone Fireball Freddie Wenz ?
Our nation turns its lonely eyes to good ol’ Fireball. He was a good’un. My favorite Fireball story: When he was called up to the Sox for a cuppa joe (1971??), he walked the based loaded and struck out the side in his first MLB inning!
Ppd has their hands full this next few days,temps in the 90’s if you see something help them out, we’re I’m this together. Trup has created a wild west atomosphere around the country.
Not sure they want help. That can backfire. One way to help is to not be an up close and personal rubber necker at a crime scene.
Dusty, why don’t you start a PCTV show called stupid advice with dusty?
The “wild west atmosphere”, as you call it, has been created by many different reasons in our society, but President Trump isn’t one of them. Liberals know this, but want to prepare for the November elections by pushing such nonsense. The free availability of all kinds of hard drugs coming across the border (which Trumps wants to fix) is a big reason for the wild west atmosphere. Too many people out of work which liberals have no interest in fixing except, especially in this area, for their close friends and relatives who they make sure are employed in good jobs.
Sorry, “h”, but Pittsfield really is a mess and we have only Progressives to blame who have been in charge of this area for far too long.
Pat I guess I might have a tad of progressive in me and so I want to personally apologize to you for ruining your country. I am going to see if I can find a cliff high enough to jump off in an effort to find your forgiveness.
and in order that Pat’s people may get the ship back in the water I hope all others who lean progressive will follow me off a cliff so that the world will be a better place for the children….uhh … once Donald lets them out of their cages.
Dusty, get your facts straight please. The photo of children in cages was taken during the Obama years in 2014. You know the good old days for Progressives when people didn’t care what was going on because Obama was the President. When there was no outrage or marches on Washington because everything was just perfect because a Democrat was in charge.
Once again I hope your world gets better. Us progressives have always had everything we want and now it is your turn. Godspeed
Dusty, the Crown Plaza will do in a pinch.
Talking Nation wide Pat, agree Pittsdield created it’s own demise. Gaetani is trying to stifun that.
Enough is enough, really Flip Flop. You’re a disgrace. Everyone knows you’re beholden to downtown merchants, don’t pretend to be for your constituents, you are about to raise them tenfold for Zero Reasons Rick Scapin, if your out there ……RUN !
Igor Grunwald please run for City Council. Please! Drew Herzig, please run for City Council!v Please?
Herzig is a nitwit and the head of the Pittsfield Gaystopo.
So true!
Gaetani is the class of all P C T V programming, no one comes even close. Thank God he is for the taxpayers, otherwise we would have no representation whatsoever. His Dhow is must see tv for anyone with a brain because the. Ost recent show deals with our brains.
Friday, Gaetani was covered extensively by the Gazette about his notice to The City and E P A that he is suing them in Federal Court for fiduciary responsibility, for forcing on the tax and rate payers seventy five million dollars of debt for the proposed sewer plant updates, whic he states may not be needed, because the Clean Water rule has been suspended for two years by the E P A, and he stated that it is very possible that the new standards which we will know about two years from now, maybe such, that we may not need to do anything, ironically, Amanda Drane and the Berkshire Eagle did not write about Mr. Gaetani’s appearance at the City Council Tuesday.
We all now know that we must seek out another source of news,and a good place to start would be the Gaetani News Hour on Channel 1301 at six p m Wednesday, and we should all start to subscribe to the Gazette, because the Gazette tries to keep everybody up to date in the City.
Prez Trump may withdraw our nation from the UN Human Rights Council on Monday, June 18th, 2018. The global community is moving towards Human Rights, while the U.S.A. may be in retreat. Trump’s decision will have big consequences on geopolitical politics. Israel is accused of Human Rights violations by the UN Human Rights Council, but there is no peace treaty between Israel and Palestine. Israel has been in a state of military conflict since the nation-state was established 70 years ago in 1948. I wish Israel was more receptive to peace and they would sign a peace treaty with Palestine establishing a two state political solution. I also hope Israel would stop building walls and would have equitable economic prosperity for all who live in the region. I support Israel and I believe the Jewish state has an absolute right to exist where it does. I also strongly believe in Human Rights and peace. While Trump believes in Israel, I don’t believe he is for Human Rights and peace. If I were in Trump’s shoes, I would stay in the UN Human Rights Council and work for peace and a fair treaty that benefits both Israel and Palestine.
Marco Rubio explains how the Obama administration is responsible for so many children being brought to the border:
Sen. Marco Rubio is blaming policies from the Obama administration for increased immigration that is leading to children being separated from their families after crossing into the United States
The separation policy has been the center of controversy over the holding of the children in tent cities in Texas.
“This is not just some plan to cruelly torture people,” he said during a visit to Sarasota on Saturday “The Obama administration was just releasing everyone, the parents and the kids, and a significant percentage of the people they released never came back, never showed up for a hearing, never heard from them again.
“And that’s a magnet. These poor people are desperate, and these trafficking groups are telling them, ‘We can take you to America, all you have to do is turn yourself in and you’ll quickly be released and then you’re done.’ And that’s causing more people to come.
“So what the Trump Administration is doing — and the president campaigned on it — they’re not going to release the adults. We’re not allowed to hold the kids by law, and frankly we shouldn’t. There’s no family shelter capability either, so that’s why this is happening.”
Rubio says after the children are released from a temporary shelter, they will be turned over to family members in the U.S. or taken to a foster home.
So what is to stop dangerous people from coming into the country using children who may not even be their own? Children cannot legally be held at the border so this is why they are separated from parents in order to attempt to do some kind of background check on the parents. Should we just allow anyone with children to cross into our country and never be seen or heard from again? Because this is what has been happening and was happening throughout the Obama years. Once in the country they go off radar and never apply for legal citizenship. Many Democrats support open borders and think this is just fine. People should be allowed to enter the country with children and just integrate into the country, illegally of course.
Hollywood understands none of this and just thinks we should have open borders and welcome everyone or we are being mean. Most in Hollywood are Democrats.
Dear God…the environment is crumbling beneath us faster than ever. Deep-rooted, long standing global alliances are being trashed like week old chicken livers and the complete destruction of our free education system is almost complete, not to mention your fearless leader trying to deliver us to Russia without a single shot fired, dismantling 50 years of efforts in the middle east and commiting serious financial, ethical and criminal offenses along the way…and you’re worried about the BoogeyMan sneaking across the border to, what, kill you in your sleep. Child PLEASE.
Scott Pruit at the EPA is a very good reason to believe that Housatonic river cleanup will never be completed.They took 20 tears to go 2 miles.
I was reading the Springfield (on line) the other day. They had an extensive list of restaurants in Western Mass that are gone. That got me thinking of the great places the Pitts used to have:
Bridge Lunch, Pittsfield Rye (on Columbus Ave), Soda Chef, Top O’ Hill, Busy Bee, Stanley’s, Sub & Beef, In Town Diner, A&W, Rosa’s, China Clipper, Friendly’s on North St. There are still a few icons left, but it ain’t same!
I can not comprehend how any person with children and loves them can condone Trumps separating children from their parents. These children did nothing wrong and very likely will be traumatized for a long time. This is barbaric and now Donald Trump is going to start storing them in tents in 90-100 degree temperatures in Texas. If any other country did this we would be screaming at the top of our lungs but anything Donald Trump does is OK because he is the new messiah.
These immigrant families are crossing our borders illegally, breaking our laws and exposing their families to separation. They are responsible for their actions – putting their families at risk – not the U.S. government. A country cannot exist without borders & laws. If you took your family and illegally crossed the border into Mexico, the Mexican government would round your family up and throw your butts in prison. Who knows where your kids would end up – most likely pressed into service in the drug trade. This whole “concern” for illegal children is nothing more than a leftist smokescreen to distract from the latest IG report on illegal activities in the FBI & DOJ.
Well, we know that Obama was putting children in cages in 2014 and Dems were OK with that. Obama really was the new messiah for the Democrats and so anything he did was never questioned by his followers or the media which is why we have a serious situation at the border now. The word was spread that if you bring children you can immediately enter the United States with no questions asked.
No tents Dusty. More lies from the mainstream media.
Dusty – Would you attempt to enter a country with your family if you knew that possibly your children would be taken away from you?
I can’t imagine any parent answering “yes” to that question.
Here’s one for you, Dusty. Each unaccompanied migrant child costs us $34,660 apiece.How many would you like to house at your place? Are they screened for disease? I don’t think so!
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/06/16/child-border-crossers-have-higher-standard-of-living-than-13m-impoverished-american-children/
They are not screened. They are here illegally, brought by parents willing to risk breaking the law and losing their kids. Fact is, this country welcomes immigrants. That’s why we have policy and process to admit them, legally.
Dusty, if you did your research you would find out that the buildings the children are currently living in are buildings that out military lived in. Further more, the tents you talk of will be what are called hardbacks. These are the same tents our military are living in in Afghanistan and Iroc.
*Iraq
Call your Democrat representative then and demand that the families be deported all together immediately. This legislation could be passed easily. If they claim that Hispanics are only safe in areas controlled by whites, then call the FBI and report your representative for hate speech.
Ahhh yes, and thatrape victim was asking for it too, right? Blame the victim.
Again, no solutions offered from the left. Just put downs of Trump since they need to win those November elections. This shows that they really do not want to find a solution to this problem. I guess we can say that they want open borders. If Americans are fine with open borders then please do vote Democrat in November.
Very soon many people with pre-existing conditions will be losing health coverage. Maybe this will wake up some of the messiah followers. Hannity will not be able to gloss over that if you are one of the unlucky ones. The good news is that Ivanka and Donnies kids will have full govt funded care at Walter Reed 24 hours a day fully paid.
By the way Pat, I just rechecked the arithmetic and sure enough neither Obama or either of the Clintons are president now. Great scapegoats sure…but not president anymore. There is a new one and you can get his name on Fox news…Trump or something I think. Been over a week now I think.
Dusty, as you know, what was happening for 8 years during Obama does have an effect on what is happening right now. This is why North Korea has been such an issue since Obama did nothing to resolve it, why our healthcare currently is horrible, and why our immigration policies are terrible.
some of Trumps disciples are getting as scary as he is
jus sayin
can u say par a noia?
Helen Moon will all respect, you are out there on certain issues, you’re logic is quite radical, and your viewpoints are to emotional and lack common sense.
Will the City Clowncil come up with Poor Peoples Day?
Now what is going on at Pecks Road? wasn’t that road done over a couple years ago?
Pete White wants to change History because some Moonbats want to change every Historical document. Gay Pride Day will someday out-do Memorial Day, just a matter of time.
Memorial Day needs to be banned. Too many white males died for their country. Maybe we can just swap out Mem Day for LBGTLMNOP Day.
Electric Costs are skyrocketing.Electric vehicles for enviormental purposes? at this times. With new sewer, police station,school et al….in the humdreds of millions. And please do not forget about OPEB’s.
159 million budget and they cut a Vehicle?
Several years ago they stopped including postage paid return envelopes for their tax bills. So they are really making an effort to cut costs and I wholeheartedly applaud their diligence and efforts. This mayor is the best mayor we have right now, that much I will tell ya.
Many people that the G Man has talked to about recent spending for Schools and Upgrades and everything new, is , how is the city allowed to spend these types of dollar figures?
and the obvious answer is that they control the candidates, the votes and just about every viable city govt position needed to spend every taxpayer dime any way they want. Almost zero oversight or resistance from those who have any power to do so.
Which sadly leaves most of the people with one option and that is to cut their losses and get out of dodge. Elsewise you get swallowed up financially and join the ever growing population of poor folk you see more and more of everywhere every day. We are like the slowly boiling frog.
To everybody on this thread, and everyone else out there that reads this thread, where would we be and what would we notb know if Gaetani wasn’t out there trying to help the taxpayer every step of the way. Think about it !
I notice frequently when the City Solicitor has to make a ruling he states, I’ll have to look at it? Isn’t or wasn’t he hired because he is an expert?
In his defense, that is a phrase that (a) allows wiggle room and, more importantly, (b) avoids hasty opinions.