The Coffee Cup Chronicles

Sometimes, your life is defined by your coffee cups.

I grew up in a coffee environment. With a predominantly Swedish heritage, this is no surprise. Swede's drink coffee like alcoholics drink vodka. Actually, Swede's drink vodka like alcoholics drink vodka, but that is not the point.

I also grew up in a "matching set" environment. The coffee cups matched the saucers matched the plates matched the dinnerware matched the placemates matched the glasses matched the friggin' wallpaper.

So it came as a bit of a surprise to me, whilst washing the dishes (coffee cups) this evening, when I realized that my coffee cup collections is, shall we say, a bit eclectic. How did I go from "matching sets" to "anything that will hold hot brown liquid"? I guess the answer is "life", so without further quotation marks, here are the Coffee Cup Chronicles.

McKee Dental Care: I got this when I moved to San Jose, CA, and went to a dentist's office that I found in the online Yellow Pages. I selected this dentist based on location. Turned out to be a fine operation. They gave this cup to me on my first visit, filled with all sorts of bric-a-brac, including a refigerator magnet that has since been lost. I am a refrigerator magnet junkie, so this is a disappointment. A welcome part of the family because it carries well, but it is a bit too small.

Coca Cola: My favorite of the six, but I inherited this from the wife, so not sure of the history. It is my favorite because it is the largest, has a nice design, and it is the largest. Not in the family long, but in the family strong.

Generic White: I don't recall exactly where Whitey came from, but I think it came from an apartment that my company leased in Houston. The apartment was furnished, including sundries, and somehow I ended up with the cup. It is inexplicable how this coffee cup, out of the dozens of coffee cups that I have owned, is still with me, but there you go. It does not carry well and is a bit to small, but it is part of the family now.

Maroon (?) QIP Team Member: Like all American corporations, when the Japanese started killing us in the 80's because they made good stuff, my corporation decided that we could make good stuff if only we had a Quality Improvement Program. Funny thing is we were already making good stuff. But don't let that stand in the way of progress. I remember having five meetings in a row, at least two hours each, in which we tried to agree on a team name. You can't make good stuff unless your Quality Improvement Program teams have names that all team members can agree on. This cup lives on in the family, but it's like the cousin that you have to be nice to only you wish that they would move to Paraguay. Too small.

The Sage School. My sister married a wicked rich guy, but to be fair, she married him before he was wicked rich, so it's not her fault. Anyway, their two kids (my neice and my nephew) went to this special school for rich kids and all I got was this coffee cup. A bit too small. It has to remain part of the family because my neice and my nephew are the coolest.

Penguins: Again, the details are hazy, but I remember I bought this at a chain drugstore when I had moved to a new location (Los Angeles?) and I was shopping for other things entirely. I think it is my oldest cup family member. And although Coca Cola is my favorite overall cup family member, this one wins as the nostalgic favorite. Even though I can't remember the time/place of purchase. And yes, it is too small.

So here I am, living large on a small island and drinking out of too-small coffee cups. Not the way I would have planned it, but family is family.