AT THE APOGEE OF PUMPKIN SPICE

IT’S EASY TO RAIL AGAINST PS (PUMPKIN SPICE), and, like making fun of Guy Fieri, it’s so easy that it’s hard to pass up. Instead, we’ll turn over PS commentary to John Oliver and his team of comic geniuses. The clip is three minutes long and will brighten your day, especially if you are a hater, or hold particular malice in your heart for a PS latte lover. 

BEYOND PUMPKIN SPICE

RATHER THAN DEBATE THE TASTE, PURPOSE, OR EXISTENCE OF PS, we invite you to think about the larger question, beyond pumpkin spice: Do we have a right to ruin what brings joy to other people? My short, non-exhaustive list of things that I do not care for includes the aforementioned Guy Fieri, Star Wars movies, televised football, mayonnaise from a jar, and, worse, veganaise.

Each of my least favorite things, like PS, is extremely popular. If we are to believe the hype, we now collectively spend around a half-billion dollars on PS products annually. It sounds like we are dangerously close to deleting our strategic reserve of PS. Except, we aren’t, and that sales number can be accurate and false: someone ordering a PS latte at Starbucks is probably getting some other form of flavored latte over the remaining nine months a year, so does that $4 count as a PS sale? Since I am neither an economist nor a sales number fluffer, I will not opine, only remain forever wary of simple statistics and the people who use them to explain more complex trends.

Though it’s not my area of interest, I’ll occasionally ask people about their favorite football team. If someone cooks or, more likely, assembles something with mayo on it for me, I’ll eat it and thank them. Rather than make it a thing, I’ll leave any room where Guy Fieri is screaming from a flatscreen without lecturing people on the wrongness of what they like. The world/our lives are increasingly fragmented and full of anxiety, and the potential for conflict is ever-present. If something brings a person tranquility and possibly joy, who am I to interrupt that?

So, while I may admire Mr. Oliver’s roast of PS, I can’t get mad at the combination of cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg and the people who enjoy it.