A series of essays.....
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| GIRLS JUST WANT TO HAVE COFFEE |
.....as seen through my eyes!
By: Jacqueline E. Hughes
From time to time, our neighborhood friends meet at the corner coffeehouse to relax, sip their favorite brew or concoction, and warm-up their hands and hearts...together!
Some might think of their meeting as a 'cleansing' or 'purification of the soul.' Even though they may share similar backgrounds and values, their ideas and opinions are as diverse and variable as the weather outside of the little shop.
Let's grab a cup of our own, take a comfortable seat, sit back and listen to what today's chapter of 'Coffeehouse Chatter' has to offer....
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Dana and Kelly are good friends. They are single ladies in their early thirties and are highly career motivated. Weekend mornings are meant for catching-up on life and enjoying a café mocha or two.
DANA: Good morning, Sunshine!
KELLY: If you say so....
DANA: Come on. Brighten up! The sun is finally shining and the day is looking good this morning. No room for Eeyore at this table! Say, did you stay up watching the Olympics again last night?
KELLY: Maybe.
DANA: You can record it, you know, and watch it later.
KELLY: That's a ridiculous suggestion and you know it. It has to be watched live or it isn't worth it. I mean, who wants to learn the results by a CNN pop-up or have Lester Holt blab it out before I can see it? But, I will admit, it used to be so much more fun to watch years ago. They make such a production number out of it these days. Too much flash and not enough substance.
DANA: So, why do you, literally, lose sleep over it?
KELLY: I'm a genuine sports geek. I don't know. I try to eliminate the monetary equation and concentrate on the athletes themselves and how much time and effort goes into their training, alone. These days it can be difficult to differentiate. What used to be considered 'amateur' sports before is a lucrative business today. Everybody has their hand in the proverbial pot.
DANA: Oh, stop! You wouldn't still be collecting those dark circles under your eyes if you didn't think it was all worth it. I know you too well.
KELLY: Okay, it's really because they show the women's beach volleyball matches so darn late.....if you want to know the truth. I love seeing Kerri and April kick some butt! Along with ice hockey, it's one of the fastest paced sports I enjoy watching. There you have it!
DANA: And the truth comes out of her mouth at last!
KELLY: Besides.....the Rio games have been the best diversion ever from the political reality show we've all been living through for months.
DANA: Amen to that one!
KELLY: It's not like we can walk away from it, you know. The outcome of the November election will affect all of us one way or another.
DANA: (Chuckling and shaking her head) You're going to think I'm crazy but, I place much of the blame of the 'birth of Drumpfness' on the original reality show, 'Survivor.' Sixteen years ago the idea of reality television was infused into our brain cells and it's gotten worse and worse every year since then. These shows don't go away either. They keep multiplying and their context is becoming shadier and shadier as the years go by.
KELLY: Hey, don't be knocking 'The Amazing Race!' In my opinion, that's the best reality show ever made. Guess it's that competitive theme running through my veins again. That and learning about different countries and cultures.
DANA: Agreed. I do like that show. Still a bit like, "I buy Playboy Magazine because I like to read the articles," though. We believe we're participating but, we're actually just looking at the pictures. What I'm talking about is how these shows have given us all a voyeur's passport or license to live on the outside looking in and believing that we really are putting in the sweat equity as we sit on our couch, drink in hand.
KELLY: Kind of like me watching beach volleyball?
DANA: Not at all! You're a bonafide fan cheering on an Olympic team who's playing thousands of miles away. I'm talking about people who really like to see someone else's marriage deteriorate and end up in divorce. Or, believe that a person could find his or her soul-mate from a handful of people they've met and gotten to know for only a few days.
KELLY: What about dropping two naked strangers off in the middle of nowhere to exist together for almost a month? Like they aren't being filmed by a person with a camera right near them, right? Ugh! That one gives me the heebie-jeebies for sure! All of those slithering, creepy things around them....
DANA: You do realize that everything is orchestrated by the master conductors don't you? They're called the producers of the show.
KELLY: I do. Sometimes I choose to ignore that fact. I know a lot of people who choose to. It makes it more fun and definitely more interesting.
DANA: Well, let's not forget that in this age of narcissism we have legitimized taking 'selfies' as an art form, described and talked about ourselves in the third person, and have taken the negativity of the act of bullying and brought it into mainstream cyberculture through social media. Even Gabby Douglas calls social media 'hurtful' after ending her Olympic career with negative attacks based on not looking right or not doing the right thing.
KELLY: That poor young lady was in a world of hurt and my heart goes out to her. Too bad others around her didn't feel the same way.
DANA: And then there is the act of telling people, "You're fired!" and enjoying the prospect so much that you take it into the highest arena of politics.....the nomination for President of the United States.
KELLY: In my own justification, I have never watched 'The Apprentice!'
DANA: I have and that's what upsets me so much! I entered the bizarre world of Donald Trump and saw how his belittling tactics seemed to bathe him in a glow of self-importance while he sent his latest victim packing......down the elevator and slammed into a taxi disgraced and mortified.
KELLY: Hmm... Sounds like a man who loves his job and is living his dream because every time I see him on the news he's doing that same thing to somebody in the crowd. If you don't agree with him.....you're fired and escorted out the door. But, no taxi for you, Buddy!
DANA: Exactly! Do we want this man running our country for four years?
KELLY: Okay, now I feel like Eeyore again, sad and disillusioned.
DANA: Don't be, Kelly. The implication of 'I'm With Her' always brings back a smile to my face, hope in my heart, and the same feeling of worthiness and respect I've been feeling for the past eight years now.
KELLY: I guess a 'Reality Star' could never be as great as 'The Real Deal.'
DANA: (Smiling) I'm ready for another café mocha. Shall I make that for two?
Copyright © 2016 by Jacqueline E. Hughes
All rights reserved
