Think of the people you know who are coffee-addicts. I think of people who rely on artificial energy boosts, who get 2 hours of sleep, and people who are “good” but not “great.” I think of sleazy salespeople.
In my experience people who drink tea are the “great” leaders. A) Tea is very healthy for you and herbal teas have been proven to decrease the risk of certain diseases. B) There’s a soothing factor involved with inhaling the aroma of an herbal tea and, for me, part of my “active meditation” routine. You can drink tea all day long which is important for those of us who do a lot of talking.
Here’s another proposition: wheat bread shows character. (Ok, I may be taking this too far.) Back in the day I would chow down Wonder bread without thinking twice. Adults who I respected kept telling me “Eat wheat, it’s better for you.” I didn’t understand them. Now I do. I’m addicted to 100% whole grain wheat. I want wheat for my sandwiches and wheat English muffins.
I’m not as smart as Steven Levitt and his brilliant explanations for the “hidden side of everything” (see Freakonomics) but hey – I tried.
Recently I saw a post, coming out of the writings of Ayn Rand, about people with beards having something to hide. I guess that falls in this category?
Acually, I have a beard, but it’s not that I have anything to hide. Its that I’m too lazy to shave. Gee, that kind of makes the same point, doesn’t it?!
Darn you Ben for bringing out my latent guilt about drinking coffee instead of green tea all day.
So, what does that make a Matcha tea drinker?
Btw, I completely agree with your take on whole wheat bread. I switched in my late teens and will never go back.
I like this idea…among the high achievers I know, it’s sort of a fad to work instead of eat, to replace sleep with caffeine, to always put yourself last. Obviously, these people value the opposite of the values you uphold in this post. I still haven’t figured out turns teenagers into caffeine-guzzling workaholics–I hope it’s not the UHS pressure to be perfect, but I’m probably wrong…