Day: September 17, 2008

Wow, I guess I always subconsciously knew this.

Do you know what I’d do if I was at home, and there was an earthquake, and my house didn’t collapse or catch fire?

After I ensured that the cats and my brother were safe, I’d send Jeff on a mission to get another propane canister or two, and I’d make coffee.  I’d light the barbecue burner on the back deck and boil water to make coffee with.  Coffee is hot.  Coffee wakes you up. And coffee is what you are going to want when you’ve been pulling people out of buildings all morning.

The global system of commerce may collapse (I personally have my doubts that it will do anything but restructure itself after years of privation, just like the last time) but as long as people want sugar and coffee and there’s a boat that can carry them, I’m not too worried about the future of my relationship with coffee.

I mentioned coffee is hot.  A study on social isolation – it’s in the last couple of days on eurekalert.org – says that social isolation makes people literally feel cold.  That’s why hot food is an integral part of social connectedness and discourse in this and any other culture, whether it’s a tropical country or not.

After I made coffee I’d deliver it to people who needed it.  Then I’d go back to the barbecue and make an immense pot of oatmeal.  Then I’d start taking stuff out of the freezer and cooking it so it didn’t go bad.  That’s what I’d do – I’d stay close to my technologically sophisticated hearth.