I like coffee, a lot.
But I didn’t start drinking coffee until about ten years ago.
Last week NPR ran a series on coffee and coffee culture. At one point they interviewed Jerry Seinfeld about coffee.
Jerry said that whenever he had a cup of coffee in front of him on his show it was just as a prop and he didn’t drink it because he didn’t start drinking coffee until about ten years ago too. I’m adding the “too,” he actually didn’t mention me in his coffee timeline.
As you might imagine, Jerry had some interesting observations on coffee.
Talking about meeting for a coffee, Jerry had this to say, “I got married and I had a family and my entire day was not free for social interaction. And eating is annoying and difficult to arrange, [and it’s] hard to choose places. And meeting someone for coffee suddenly seemed like a wonderful, compact, accessible and portable social interaction.”
“You don’t even really need a place. But you feel like you’re doing something. That’s what coffee is. And that’s one of the geniuses of the new coffee culture.”
When the interviewer quizzed Jerry about where he thinks the best place for coffee is, he said, “I don’t give a damn. That’s the beauty of it. It doesn’t matter. What’s the nearest place. I’ll meet you there. And you know what? Coffee’s all good. It’s all good. As long as it’s fresh, it’s good. And it’s always fresh in New York. … I think we’re a more productive society as a result.”
Finally Jerry reflected on why he thinks coffee is so important in American culture, “I think the answer is we all need a little help, and the coffee’s a little help with everything – social, energy, don’t know what to do next, don’t know how to start my day, don’t know how to get through this afternoon, don’t know how to stay alert. We want to do a lot of stuff; we’re not in great shape. We didn’t get a good night’s sleep. We’re a little depressed. Coffee solves all these problems in one delightful little cup.”