Oh fall. The crisp cool weather. The turning leaves. The fun of getting my sweaters out of storage.
That all sounds nice. I live on the center of the sun (AKA San Antonio) so fall for us happens sometime in early February. Okay, I kid...a little. I'm not bitter or anything...besides, I get to experience the magic of fall that I am missing though the magic of the internet.
Summer is over. Forget the fact that it's over 100 degrees here. The autumn décor and Halloween stuff at Target tells me fall has arrived. I heard a rumor Costco has Christmas stuff out...I'm not going near there...no room for premature decorations in my life. Ahem.
But you know what I love most about fall? Watching the pumpkin spice haters getting wound the eff up.
It's flavored coffee. People look forward to it all year... either that or they look forward to the whole "love to hate" aspect of it all. I don't get why people get their undies in a bunch because the Internet talks about pumpkin spice.
Pumpkin spice Pumpkin spice Pumpkin spice Pumpkin spice Pumpkin spice Pumpkin spice Pumpkin spice Pumpkin spice Pumpkin spice Pumpity Pump Pump Pumpkiny spicy spice!
Are you still here? Okay. I don't like pumpkin spice...I'll just put that out there. For the most part, I like my coffee to taste like coffee, although I like the occasional caramel macchiato. I don't want my coffee to taste like pumpkin, gingerbread, peppermint or any other fun holiday flavor.
Hey, pumpkin spice haters. Get over it. These are for you:
1. Pumpkin spice is not the only seasonal consumer product that people go cray cray crazy over. It's always something. The frenzy will pass...and then it will be time for the internet to gripe and moan about the Elf on the Shelf. Poor Thanksgiving. That's my absolute favorite holiday and it gets so shafted.
2. Pumpkin spice isn't hurting you. If your loved one has a pumpkin spice problem, odds are he or she is still behaving like a decent human being. Other than maybe having an expensive coffee habit, pumpkin spice addicts are still generally productive members of society. Men don't stay out all night drinking pumpkin spice. Women don't ignore their children's needs because they're focused on nothing but getting their hands around a warm cup of that foamy goodness. Okay...well, maybe that second thing might be a problem for some.
3. Yes, there are pumpkin spice flavored bagels, cream cheeses, cookies, bakery products out the wazoo, body lotions, candles, condoms (yes, really...and ew...weirdos.) There is a lot of pumpkin spice stuff around...it's not going to take over the planet. It might seem like it's taking over Panera bread, though, but I gotta tell you, pumpkin spice baked goods don't suck. Pumpkin spice wants to be your friend. If it's not your thing, just deal for six weeks.
4. Psst...you know this stuff doesn't actually contain pumpkin, right? Can you chill out about this or does it make you hate pumpkin spice all the more? Do you think Starbucks is damaging pumpkin's reputation? And what is pumpkin, anyway... a fruit? A vegetable? A decorative product? I don't know. And...Starbucks claims their Pumpkin spice actually contains real pumpkin...truth or urban legend?
So. When it comes to fall, I think of pumpkin spice and I laugh because it seems like there are two kinds of people in this world: people who love pumpkin spice and people who love to hate it. Chill and find something else to appreciate about fall...the beauty of foliage, the heady smell of candy corn, or the fact that there's not a giant stream of sweat rolling down the back of your neck toward your butt.
It's only a flavor...it's just coffee, man.
Jill Robbins is a published author, and award winning writer, speaker and wine snob. She writes regularly on her blog, Ripped Jeans and Bifocals. You can keep up with her on Facebook and Twitterhttps://www.twitter.com/JillinIL.
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