Keurig Morality

 I've been participating in a book study on Jonathan Haidt's The Righteous Mind (Why good people are divided by politics and religion).  A lot of our discussion has revolved around individualistic versus community orientations.  This morning as I sipped my coffee, poured from the communal coffee urn, I pondered the moral implications of Keurig coffee.  

Some of my earliest memories are of large extended family gatherings where aunts and uncles argued over coffee.  They could tell at first taste who had won the race to the coffee urn (borrowed from the church for the duration) and made the coffee.  Long before I had my first taste of coffee, I could rank my aunts and uncles in order based on how strong or weak they drank their coffee.  No matter what time we arrived, there would be a hot pot of coffee on the burner or being brewed.  Coffee was an all day drink and 'decaf' was not part of the vocabulary.  After the kids were put to bed, their parents would pour another cup of coffee and talk about important family affairs.  Often, I could hear these conversations from my bed.  I stayed awake as long as I could straining to hear 'the real news'.  

At home, I awoke every morning to the smell of coffee brewing.  Coffee for breakfast, coffee for lunch, coffee for dinner, coffee for evening gatherings.  Everyone drinking from the same pot. Among my parents friends, I knew who made the strongest and weakest coffee.  No one ever thought of not drinking what was offered. If the last cup was not to their taste, the next good taste would be that much more enjoyable.

Even though I've spent most of my adult life living alone and drinking my daily coffee, I have never even considered a single-cup coffee brewing option.  Coffee is a communal drink. The idea of brewing individual cups catering to each individual's taste is in direct opposition to the way I've experienced and enjoyed coffee during my lifetime.  

Now, when I visit aunts and cousins, I drink coffee made in individual cups from a Keurig coffee maker.  I enjoy my coffee no matter which way it's brewed.  I know single cup brewing is convenient. To me it represents the victory of individualism over a communal experience in a way that is morally dangerous.