Being Frivolous

Fun has never been a high priority, at least since my teens.  FB friends who learn that I have never been to a rock concert think I have missed out on some of life's most meaningful experiences.  I have never sought anything from a designer or patronized an exclusive store.  My two professional massages were gifts.  Not a chance that I would seek one out on my own, not on a cruise ship, not from a storefront franchise.  I've not had my hair styled, just efficiently cut after it's been overdue. I've never gone skiing or snowboarding, just snow tubing one time. Meals out are expensive for assigned special occasions, though never extravagant or at a place so exclusive that telling somebody I've eaten there would create an impression.  Some things are just frivolous, not worth purchasing.  Yet I have my own targeted amusements.  I have a liking for a day at a water park.  Linking one to an amusement park is even better.  On a cruise liner's chocoholic buffet, I arrive at the announced starting time, usually an hour when I would ordinarily be asleep.

Some things merge the utilitarian with the indulgent.  My insulated mug, obtained for free from a pharmaceutical company when they were still allowed to gift promotional items to doctors who might prescribe their products, served me quite well.  It has been many years since the companies got together amongst themselves and discontinued these items.  My mug still keeps coffee warm and it fits under the dispensing spout of my Keurig machine, but the seal between its plastic lid and insulated bottom has gotten loose.  Technology on these items has also advanced.  My original thermal travel mugs had plastic inside and out with a vacuum between layers.  My daily one has plastic on the outside, stainless steel on the inside.  The lever atop the lid moves across the top to allow coffee to flow, but does not always stay in the intended position as it sits in the car's cupholder.  Maybe time to replace.

As with most things, technology has come to the marketplace.  These travel mugs insulate more effectively, typically about five hours of hot, and about sixteen hours of cold.  Inner surfaces remain stainless steel but the outer part has transitioned to metal, usually a painted surface with fine texture in a variety of colors.  The shape has changed.  It is still possible to buy one that fits snugly in the center holder then expands upwards, but more cylindrical designs have taken over, presumably to capture better thermal retention properties.  Some have one diameter to fit in the holder, and a larger cylindrical shape above the holder.  Others are just cylinders.  Some have handles, though a two-cup car holder can really only accommodate one handle.  And the lids, while still plastic, seal tightly. Most have a more sophisticated and secure mechanism to keep the mug in its sippable and closed positions.  Moreover, the market for cold has expanded, so many have straws that attach to a male end on the underside of the lid to allow a straw to collect liquid while the user sips from a plastic lid segment that rises and lowers to allow consumption or seal.

Creative designers and patent attorneys have to be paid, so the modern mugs have gotten considerably more expensive.  Some coffee shops or iconic thermos brands offer their own logos at a premium.  It is not a trivial purchase anymore, though whatever the consumer selects should be durable.  

I went to several stores, mostly places I thought would discount them.  Poor selection, low quality at all of them.  I looked online.  Again, surprisingly limited selection, much harder to sort on Amazon than sorting shoes or shirts.  And while expensive, not so costly as to qualify for free shipping.  Some local stores only had the types with a straw.  Target had a fair selection, though priced above what I would be willing to spend for something useful, but not essential.

Finally I found the selection I needed at a Marshalls at a price acceptable to me.  I saw one just right.  Had it not only come in pink, I'd have purchased it.  As much as strive for gender parity in my professional world, and critique my synagogue for slouching on this, some things are just effeminate.  Teal green or battleship gray would be at the cash register.  But not lady pink.  Eventually I found a stainless steel travel mug, right size, right top, right price.  Selected that.  And for the same price, I selected a second one, smaller volume, more cylindrical, name-brand, semi-mechanized top.  Took both to the register for roughly the same price one at Target would have cost.  And I paid cash.  Not perfect in design like that pink one, but either will keep my morning coffee hot longer than it would take to drink it, most at OLLI, but also on some half-day travel.  

Everything has a downside.  Both are too tall to fit under a Keurig machine, so I will need to fill a cup and pour it if I make the coffee that way.  Or better, it might be a good excuse, once a day, to make better coffee in a French press or Melitta cone, then pour it into the insulated cylinder before heading to the car.  And since I know what the ideal option is, I can keep my eye out for one in a more acceptable color.

Hot coffee, good coffee, the best I can make at home, is not frivolous.  Coffee shop prices can be if coffee is the product being sought, not frivolous if I am paying $3 to rent space for undistracted Me Time or camaraderie with others who see the coffee shop as a non-alcoholic Publik House.  The mug, judiciously chosen, adds to the enjoyment.  To-Go, Starbucks or WaWa's cardboard option just doesn't match the pleasure of liquid still hot an hour later.  A quality insulated mug, one that should last years, or for me two new ones, searched through several stores for the best buy, should keep the morning coffee worthy of a slow sip in the OLLI Lounge, the classroom, or on the Interstate.