Festive Cups

COSTA AND THE ANCIENT TIMES

I found a Costa Coffee shop in a 17th century building! It's at one of those historical sites where English armies faced off with an invading force, and lots of lives were lost. There are monuments to that effect, as well as to more recent losses from after the turn of the 19th century. There are even monuments, in the form of benches and remembrance plaques, commemorating losses that occurred in my lifetime.

There's always a solemn feeling when I come across places like this one. I would often stop and take in the scene, looking around at the surrounding structures, especially those that have survived war or a great fire, and wonder what else happened there. The place had been there, looking pretty much the same, for hundreds of years. I picture those hyper-lapse videos that zoom ahead, or backwards, in time. Stone usually outlasts everything, so structures like obelisks, castles and other such, serve as a window into the distant past. Wood, when appropriately treated, is the second most durable and often makes it through the centuries too. Metals, with the exception of gold and silver, are practically useless when it comes to time measured in centuries, or even decades.

A festival that would have been around at the time the building was constructed, was Christmas. The festival, not the way it's celebrated, would have even been there before the structure was raised all those centuries ago. Before christianity, of course, there were the various winter festivals practiced by the inhabitants of this general area back into antiquity.

The Christmas tree, mistletoe, the snowman, giving of presents, e.t.c, all predate Christianity in Europe. So do many of the iconography that we see that are now associated with Christmas, and even christianity, but are not christian at all. At least, they didn't start off christian even if they've now been assimilated.

I'm not surprised that we never see any nativity scenes, baby Jesus, three wise men, bright guiding star, shepherds watching the flocks by night, e.t.c, anymore. Even in churches, with few exceptions, they opt for Santa, Rudolph or a snowman more often that Jesus who's supposed to be the "reason for the season".

This has seen some political backlash in recent times with the "War on Christmas" issue, particularly in the United States. "Merry Christmas" has been interchangeable with "Happy Holidays" or at least "Merry Xmas" for as long as I can remember. If you don't realise the history of winter festivals in Europe, one might think that indeed, there has been a systematic removal of Christ from Christmas.

While there obviously have been a bit of woke reconfiguration of Christmas to be more "inclusive" or whatnot, it hasn't been the case on a wider scale I don't think. The truth is, the majority of people in this country simply don't truly believe in Jesus anymore, and could care less about the religious aspect of Christmas. Also, Jesus in fact isn't the reason for the season. He was overlaid to replace what was already going on for centuries. You can argue that Europeans, and coffee shops apparently, are reverting to their old, pre-christian Yule ways.

Anyway, this is a very long topic with lots of potential cognitive dissonance moments.

I found it funny that Costa Coffee has opted to go with an animal that's usually asleep this time of the year. Most bears hibernate in winter. They do, however, represent a very fluffy, cosy and comforting emotion that is much needed in this season. I had a teddy bear when I was a child that was passed down to me from my sister. I still remember him like it was yesterday. He was custard coloured with one missing eye. I think it started life as yellow, but lived a tough life and ended up custard. Poor little fella. If I ever met a real bear, I'd have to consciously remember not to hug it.

Costa's cup is also simple, as I like it, and rhymes perfectly with their Christmas decor. There are gingerbread men, penguins and rabbits pasted on windows and walls. The design is very clever since it uses the usual Costa colours, so they didn't need to commission new cups. I can imagine they just printed the art on existing cups. Kudos for that supposedly environmentally friendly move. 👏 👏 👏

In terms of coffee, Costa is probably the best of the chain shops. Cafe Nero is a close second with Harris + Hoole coming in at number 3. The Coffee Republic is pretty good too, but I don't think they're large enough to be considered a chain coffee chop just yet. I also have never seen them in any other country, so I'm not sure they're international either.

Talking of environmentally friendly, the barista doubled the cup for me because the coffee was piping hot. If I had been allowed to use my portable coffee container thingy, we wouldn't have had this problem. Covid has done a number on the environment I tell you.

Ah, talking of Covid, we have QR codes all over the place now that we're supposed to be scanning. I don't think anybody scans that stuff anymore here. I didn't observe a single scan, even tough they're at every seat and entrance in every coffee shop retail locations in London. There are non-Covid related QR codes on the cups, however, that lead to much fun and games when you scan them. Since I've got QR code fatigue, I couldn't be bothered to find out exactly what the fun and games are. Sorry Costa Teddy.

Peace & Love,

Adé