Whatever happened to the dollar cup of coffee?

The slow demise of the soul

Whether you drink it or not, you must admit that coffee is a strong part of our image of Americana. In the wide open plains of the Old West, coffee was a just reward for a day’s work. The mental snapshot we have is of dusty, chiseled face s of tired cowboys. One is sitting on a large rock, a tin cup in a weathered hand reaching across to his partner who pours coffee from a battered pot he lifted off the makeshift spit hangin’ over the fire.

The Depression era imprinted another image of coffee on our minds. A man standing on a corner, clothes worn, eyes reflecting the hopelessness of the day. His request was simple, echoed in a polite tone, “Hey brother, can you spare a dime?” –the cost of a hot cup of coffee.

Leapfrog to today.

The simple cup of coffee has graduated to a $3.80 cup of cappuccino. I can still hear the laughter of the cowboys in my ears.All of this has happened slowly.


It somehow snuck up on the unsuspecting public. Stealthily, without warning, we were inexorably sucked into the vortex of some mad coffee conspiracy, perpetuated by Juan Valdez, his burro and the coffee cartel. Today we no longer take it straight — we need take it frothy, steamy, murky concoctions w ith shaved chocolate and cinnamon and shots of syrup. For some, it’s a major part of their discretionary budget.

While we were looking away, the baseline; the cost of a single cup of coffee — began inching its way up. I remember the first time I went to 7-11 and bought a simple, hot cup of coffee and innocently handed over a dollar bill. The clerk looked at me like I was an alien… “Like it’s $1.14, man,” she said. I choked as I grabbed some change and handed it over. The slow slide toward a dollar cup of coffee was complete. And once that barrier was crossed, the sky was the limit.


The incremental upward adjustment of prices is what started all of this. We blinked and the prices went up a dime. We blinked again and it was another dime. Before we knew it, our regular old joe had shot up to four bucks for a whipped frappachino with two shots and drizzle of caramel.

It is our observation that life works much the same way. We have allowed the slow creep of things I once opposed to bully their way into my life. What we once called a lie is now just a slip of the tongue. What society once called sin is now emancipation and freedom. What was once reprehensible and wrong is simply another lapse of good judgment.People seldom lose their religion by a blowout–it is usually a slow leak.

The biblical example of Samson personified this slow demise of the soul. Blessed with every gift, he slowly compromised until he was sleeping with the enemy. His moral strength became a bowl of Jell-O in the hands of the ungodly. While he slept, he locks were shorn. While he slumbered, he final strength was stripped.

Some people who would never consider walking in darkness sure do enjoy a little stroll in the shade. Many of us are walking on the “other side” now and again. Each time we don’t get caught, it renews our energy and causes us to be a little bolder the next time.

It happens in our homes and churches. It happens in our workplaces. It happens in our everyday decisions.It is now the season to reverse our awkward stumbling toward wrong and to make a stand for what is right. As a nation, as a people, and as individuals we can stop our slide on the slippery slope.