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Coffee to go

(111 Posts)
mabon1 Fri 01-Jun-18 12:29:49

Perhaps someone will be able to answer a simple question.
A young woman who lives close to me walks her six year old son to school every day, GREAT, most parents take their child by car this is to be admired, however every morning on her way home she buys a take away coffee from a kiosk in the car park adjacent to the school and carries it home and presumably drinks it there (the coffee cups are no recycleable). Why pay for a cup of coffee every morning, carry it home when one is just 7 minutes away from home, where she could make one herself? To me it seems a waste of money and not good for the environment. Please enlighten me.

moobox Sat 02-Jun-18 11:21:04

My neighbours get up early then get dressed up and walk down the road at 9.30 for a coffee every day. I wouldn't, and would have a coffee at home unless I was meeting friends out, but they really enjoy doing it.

Gma29 Sat 02-Jun-18 11:04:00

I often buy a takeaway coffee to drink in the car on the way home from somewhere, as I feel very uncomfortable sitting in a cafe on my own. I don’t own a coffee machine, and enjoy a “proper coffee” - even if it is the free one from Waitrose sometimes.

sarahcyn Sat 02-Jun-18 10:48:30

Mabon1 you could:
1. buy a couple of lovely bamboo reusable coffee cups with lids (same size as the cup she prefers).
2. then come out from behind your twitching net curtain,
3. walk to the kiosk at the same time as the walking mum, and
4.hand her one of the cups saying frankly “I see you every day walking your child to school and I think you deserve this!” Then use the other one to buy a coffee yourself!
If the coffee’s disgusting, the mystery thickens.

MawBroon Sat 02-Jun-18 10:38:20

I apologise Mabon as it had never occurred to me that you might be chair bound or stuck indoors for health reasons. But it struck me as incomprehensible how anybody could be so informed about their young neighbour’s habits every day.
Us oldies are too often accused of “curtain twitching” or intolerance of the habits of the younger generation.
Perhaps some of us do need more to occupy our lives? But at any rate I still think what someone else does with her money, on a daily business or not, is not really our business.
And no, it is not the sort of thing I would raise in conversation peaches50 my friends would think it an odd thing to comment on! (And we might be in a coffee shop - whereas I suppose we could just as easily drink brew and eat cupcake at home. )

harrigran Sat 02-Jun-18 10:38:05

The money spent would buy a fancy coffee machine or lots of ground coffee from a supermarket but then you would have to make it yourself. I will never understand why anyone would want to drink coffee from a cardboard cup and am probably the only person never to have set foot in an overpriced trendy coffee shop.

NfkDumpling Sat 02-Jun-18 10:32:20

A coffee to go cup is a fashion accessory. Everyone who’s anyone always carries one. I don’t buy them as I’m too impatient to stand in the queue and like to sit and savour my drinks.

charjoy Sat 02-Jun-18 10:29:17

Good luck to her if she can afford it. I just hope that people who go to the food bank don't do the same.

lovebeigecardigans1955 Sat 02-Jun-18 10:21:12

Ridiculous, isn't it? I think that it's a complete and utter waste of time and money but as an occasional treat it's perfectly acceptable. I assume the young lady has a kettle at home. I expect this nonsense started off on US television and has caught on over here with all the rest of these silly things.

Tessa123 Sat 02-Jun-18 10:13:17

I’m 62 and I enjoy a nice coffee from one of the many
coffee shops that are everywhere, I will buy one when I’m shopping or driving long distances and always prefer a takeaway version. I don’t feel it’s anything to do with age it’s a sign of the times. Try it you may like it.

Carolpaint Sat 02-Jun-18 10:12:44

What a delicious sounding pizza. Would love to try it. Thank goodness for no tomatoes. Yum Yum.

harrysgran Sat 02-Jun-18 10:09:48

Maybe it's her treat could be worse she could be puffing on a cigarette that would be a waste of money

Welshwife Sat 02-Jun-18 10:04:34

A couple of days ago I was talking about cooking pizza for lunch when DH said there was nothing like the one the man up the road makes. So on the spur of the moment we decided to go and get our first ever take away pizza! We got it back home piping hot and tasting delicious - five cheeses with honey and walnuts on the top. It is the only pizza I have ever eaten with no tomato of any sort on it.
It was a luxury but a lovely unexpected treat on a dull rainy day!

Carolpaint Sat 02-Jun-18 09:59:54

Perhaps this is 'her time'. When we had small children even to go to the loo alone was a luxury. Perhaps it was for her partner to get him up, his pleasure. If it was her pleasure, to sit and luxuriate in the simplicity of drinking a peaceful cup of good coffee uninterrupted. To walk in the shoes of others is worth a try. Please can we have hopeful responses?

inishowen Sat 02-Jun-18 09:57:38

Think of it this way. She's helping keep the small coffee kiosk in business. I would also agree, a takeaway pizza is delicious and always arrives hot.

trisher Sat 02-Jun-18 09:40:15

She likes the coffee-why shouldn't she?
As for delivery pizza. Nothing, home made, supermarket, frozen tastes the same as take away or delivered (With the possible exception of restaurant pizza)

Blackcat3 Sat 02-Jun-18 09:39:30

It does sound a bit extravagant but if she can afford it why not, some bought fancy coffees are nicer than homemade even if you’ve got an espresso maker as I do....also it’s quicker to buy it...maybe she has a busy day....we all have our routine....after all it’s a simple pleasure, better than some other things she could do!!

Stansgran Sat 02-Jun-18 09:34:48

I read that 1 in 400 takeaway coffees is recycled. All people carrying their coffee around annoy me as they are very unlikely to dehydrate in the great scheme of things. And please don't start me on tubs of popcorn in cinemas. And yes I do have a life. grin

sarahellenwhitney Sat 02-Jun-18 09:29:01

You can't beat a Coffee 'to go' even if you have your own machine. I like nothing more, having done my shopping, than picking up a large 'extra shot' Costa and sitting in my car in Tesco car park watching the world go by.

peaches50 Sat 02-Jun-18 09:25:33

quite right Annep. Mawbroon there is a fine line between brisk and brusque. Mabon1 just found it odd and wanted to share - I see this site as a virtual round table where I can have a cuppa and jaw putting the world to right or just idling the time with some friends. Would you consider comments like 'spying on' 'get a life' be appropriate or kind if sat at that table facing Mabon1? You are entitled to your own view but seemed a bit aggressive. For the record DH unfailingly comments when we see the hard up families living in Coronation Street having coffee at Roy's instead of their own houses next door. Weird.

ReadyMeals Sat 02-Jun-18 09:21:46

Bear in mind that if people who can afford these pointless but fun luxuries go on buying them, they are helping to keep someone who probably can't afford luxuries in a job. With the wealth divide getting wider and wider I can't help thinking it would be a social benefit to go back to the days of those who can afford it keeping household staff (but without the horrid long hours etc)

sunseeker Sat 02-Jun-18 09:20:48

It could be her one treat of the day, how do you know she drinks it at home she may (like me) be a caffeine addict and by the time she reaches you she has already drunk the coffee and is carrying the cup home to dispose of it.

As long as she doesn't throw the cup on the ground (or in your garden) I would just ignore her habit - after all it isn't harming anyone

Tingleydancer Sat 02-Jun-18 09:16:39

Perhaps you should mind your own business!

annep Fri 01-Jun-18 19:21:16

There's nothing wrong with commenting, MawBroon. It's just chat.? I think it's a funny thing to do too. I'm sure I do odd things too.

goldengirl Fri 01-Jun-18 17:13:03

I really enjoy take away coffees - but only as a treat; not as a regular activity. I have a machine but it doesn't taste the same somehow.
Teetime We have the odd pizza now and again and it's never cold - it's carried in an insulated container.

sodapop Fri 01-Jun-18 17:01:30

We all enjoy a guilty pleasure and maybe the coffee is hers, for me its chocolate.