Guilty pleasure.

I just drained a tall hot chocolate from Starbucks, the evil $3.00 coffee conglomerate who has moved into a corner lot across from our grocery store and will surely put our local coffeeshop out of business in no time. Yes, I paid $2.65 for a cup of hot chocolate. On a Sunday, no less. There is so much about this that is wrong.

And yet it felt oh so good.

The sweet nectar of warm liquid chocolate sliding down my throat, heating me from the inside. Yum. Part of me says this is a total no-brainer. Why wouldn't I buy these things ALL THE TIME? Sipping that stuff is almost like having an orgasm, only it's much faster, it doesn't wake the baby, and I don't have to take my clothes off.

And yet, that little paper cup represents so much that I can't stand about this world. Rampant consumerism, the selling of "cool," smarmy yuppie type people who buy things to feel superior, farmers not getting a fair price for their coffee beans while rich corporations charge exorbitant prices for the finished product and get fatter and richer while the farmers struggle and starve, local businesses going broke while the big chain stores thrive, shall I go on???

But despite all of this, I still found myself in the Starbucks drive-up lane this morning. How did it happen? Well, basically it's because I am lazy and don't live the values that I preach. I left my office and drove homewards, knowing in my gut that I was going to stop at Starbucks. Knowing it, but denying it all the way there. I told myself that if I wanted an overpriced drink that I could just as easily make at home I'd go to the local coffeeshop.

And the devil rachel on my shoulder said, yeah, but it's out of your way. you'd have to go down to the square, and there's never any good parking down there. and you'd have to get out of the car. starbucks has a drive-through...and it's on the way home.

And the angel rachel on the other shoulder said, rachel, you have hot chocolate mix at home, you don't need to spend the extra money. it will feel good at first, but then the regret will kick in. don't do it. just go home.

And as usual, I squelched the angel voice, told it to get lost, and pulled into Starbucks as evil devil rachel laughed a deep throaty laugh. mweuh ha ha ha ha.

And damned if that hot chocolate wasn't delicious.