bad coffee good coffee

We ran out of good coffee so I've resorted to el cheapo brand -- some unknown name we purchased in case of emergencies; little packets like you'd see at work in the lunchroom. However, this is some of the worst sh** I've ever tasted.

But this morning, I really need a jolt so I'm drinking some.

WE like our Starbucks (which we will get to in about an hour) and our Porto Rican imports and any other gourmet Italian or French or fancy-schmanzy Peruvian Guatamalan Free-Range Organic Shade-Grown Labor Friendly (supposedly!) flavor. Can you get anything in this world at a reasonable price without screwing someone else who's poorer than us? The people picking the coffee beans are probably using their kids to work, too, because they need the money, and the world keeps turning. I've come to the conclusion that if I'm shopping at a discount store and buying stuff I can afford then I'm probably helping maintain a miserable lifestyle for some poor bastard halfway around the world. On the other hand, if I could afford NICER stuff, would I then NOT be screwing some poor bastard halfway around the world? Maybe we simply have no choice, this is the choice that the conglomerates have given us because nothing is more important than their bottom line.

We try to eat healthy as much as possible. It's no secret, it's been reported in many places, that if you are poor you cannot eat healthy. You cannot buy fresh vegetables, you're forced to buy white bread, lots of cheap pasta, etc., etc. We are in a position now, with our combined incomes (which are not great, by any means, at least by New York standards) that we can make healthy choices. But here's what it comes down to: Whole grain bread is consistently two to three times as much. I'd also like to meet and smack the f***er who started the "healthy chip" craze and thought charging four times the price was a good idea. You can eat Lay's at 99 cents -- or multi-grain, sea salt-laced, olive-oil basted NATURAL potato chips for $4.99. Yikes!

Mostly, we just skip the chips. But I'm just saying -- here it is SUMMER, all the crops are in season, and we're paying $2/pound for green beans and apples? What the heck is going on?

We're screwed. I'm telling you, we're screwed. Don't get me started on how it's all the Republicans' fault... heh heh heh.