Thursday, May 13

Talk is cheap (One tall caramel macchiato for $3.95, please)

I was reading about the new film, Coffee and Cigarettes, in Premiere the other night. Mostly I thought, "Eh, black and white, overly artistic, not likely." Then on the drive home yesterday, Nik mentioned the movie and how excited he was about it. He almost made me want to see it -- that's how much I love Nik. But, really, I wasn't thinking about the actual movie anymore, I was thinking about how coffee and cigarettes seen to indicate conversation. It's cultural shorthand. "You want to go grab a cup of coffee?" really means: Let's go somewhere and absently sip a beverage while we talk for a long time. (What it really means to me is "You're free to drink coffee if you want, but no way in hell am I drinking that swill." Much like "Let's get a beer" means "You're free to drink that if you want, but no way in hell am I drinking that swill.") Why do we need to drink while we talk? Because our throats get dry from all the conversation? So we have something to do with our hands? And why do we always want something to do with our hands?

I don't know, really. You want to get a drink and talk it over?

No comments: