Dunkin' Donuts in Starbucks Cup

Sometimes appearances don't always ring true. What you see, may not truly be what you get.

What if there wasn't Starbucks coffee inside of this Starbucks cup? What if it were Dunkin Donuts coffee? What?!

This doesn't necessarily mean that something is "fake", but merely a misconception of what the truth really is. Sometimes, image is everything. Coffee is coffee, right? Lol!

We've all heard the old adage, "Don't judge a book by it's cover." It's time to look deeper, folks.

Evidence can be found in brand "knock-offs". At a distance, sure, it may look like a Louis Vuitton bag, but up close (sometimes NOT so up close) one can see slight variations from the original product. Knock-offs run the gambit from handbags, scarfs, watches, sneakers, and especially gemstones and jewelry. Is it that necklace really gold? Is that a real diamond? Again, from a distance it may appear so, but under a trained eye (and often even the untrained eye,) it is soon discovered what it is not. Sometimes things are just fake.

As humans, we can also carry out a degree of fakeness. We fake emotions...a variant of lying. Unless you know the person very, very well, sometimes it's harder to identify whether or not they're exhibiting the truth. It's sort of like you have to know the backstory or the context of where that person is coming from to get a good read on them.  It's often a fine line, but unfortunately, pretending and faking emotions are pretty easy to pull off.

This made me think of the scenario of switching up the coffee. There exists in the world two giant on-the-go coffee providers: Starbucks (founded in 1971) and Dunkin' Donuts (founded in 1950). I was a classic Dunks drinker and have been for over 30 years. If it weren't for Dunkin' Donuts coffee, I would not have been able to function as a teacher for ten years of my life journey. I craved it; the smell, the flavor. I even the envy of tired souls when I walked into the room with coffee in hand they people wished they had one themselves. I drove up to the drive-thru window after every school day. This was a luxury for sure. 

Then there are the Starbucks lovers. I see them each and every day down the street from where I live swerving haphazardly through the open parking lot to reach their final destination in the Starbucks drive-thru line on the other side. I find them a bit reckless due to their lack of sleep or their time constraints. Nevertheless, they need their fix of caramel mocha lattes, and their blah, blah, blahs. Is it better coffee? Who's to say? It's simply a matter of opinion. 

Here is what I think and here is what comes to mind when I see Starbuck coffee cups being clutched tightly with their little cardboard sleeves. I actually think "status symbol". Again, this is just my opinion, but I just always thought of Starbucks as too fancy and too "dressed up" with all their "names" and coffee types.  I'm not sure why I feel this way. Perhaps it was years, and years ago when a franchise opened in our town and I caved and took the kids there, it would cost me a fortune for treats and cocoa, and yes, a coffee for me, which was usually way too bitter for my liking.  Back then, give me Dunkin' Donuts any day!                       

But what if . . . what if I took and poured my Dunkin' Donuts coffee into a Starbuck cup? Would I feel differently walking around with it in my hands? Does it pose as a status symbol in my hand now?  "They'll never know. They're gonna know. How are they gonna know?"

It might fool people, right?  Would it make me a fake? No.

I know, I know...none of this really matters, but sadly, it reminds me of how people judge each other. When people judge strangers based on their appearance, on what they are driving, or even what coffee cup they're grasping, it does matter.  Unfortunately, we base a lot of things on status in our society.       

Bottom line, drink what you like. Be who you want, but at the end of the day,

BE YOUR OWN TRUE SELF, DO YOU, no matter what's in your cup!                                                          

cdl

(now Lavazza coffee drinker for the past 11 yrs)