I drink coffee at my peril, my physical peril that is. But, but, but…I like the taste. So I drink coffee, just now and again, and suffer the consequences. Unfortunately the consequences are getting more severe. My gallbladder tells me all about it for weeks after a cup or three, not just hours or days afterwards. A mild addiction perhaps? And self deception in operation? Just one cup won’t do any harm. Or, more delusive still, I’ll just have one cup, to prove I am free to choose. The writing is now on the wall. I quit!
A documentary film making in America made a film in 2004 called Super Size Me. Probably everybody but me knows about this film. Anyway, part way through his 30 day experiment of eating nothing but MacDonalds food he is seen talking to a nutritionist. By this time Morgan, the film maker, is suffering seriously from the effects of his fat and sugar rich diet. He has gone from an above average healthy and active man to a depressed and lethargic shadow of his former self. He reports that the one thing that makes him feel better is to eat another MacDonald meal, even though afterwards he feels ill. The nutritionist remarked casually, Oh, you’re now addicted.
Well, I’m not about to take a stance on coffee or fast food, or any other matter for that matter. However it is interesting to note the architecture of addiction, is it not? Too easy to spot the addict on the street and miss the one gazing out from the mirror.
Coffee is a rather large part of my life. I drink it throughout the day. I’m a regular in more than one coffee shop – including the French one just outside my front door. I usually get to know the people who work in these places well and then they start giving me free coffee. That isn’t helping is it?
I love the taste but it also helps fuel my hectic life. I don’t have plans to quit but I have cut back on my afternoon and evening consumption. The one thing I don’t want to do is reach for a cup reflexively.