ahavatcafe

In the past two years my mother has mastered the art of emailing.

Though she does still type with the two finger method, she has certainly
perfected her ability to forward Oprah style self help forwards to me and everyone else she knows.

I'd say I get roughly 3 a week.

This week she sent one that I really liked. (A rare occurance!)

I'm going to include it below. Let me know what you think.

Carrot, Egg, and Coffee

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how
things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it
and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as
one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and
placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she
placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed
ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil, without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots
out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a
bowl.

Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.

Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me what you see."

"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did
and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an
egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled
egg.

Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter
smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, "What does
it mean, mother?"

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same
adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in
strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the
boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile.
Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting
through the boiling water,its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans
were unique, however.After they were in the boiling water, they had
changed the water.

"Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your
door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?"

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with
pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the
heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial
hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my
shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff
spirit and hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the
very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it
releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are
at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the
hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to
another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a
coffee bean?

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you
strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy.

This is so true - may we all be COFFEE.

In trying to comfort a friend yesterday who is going through a rough time, I made a delightfully cheesy realization. I would like to share it with you:

You can take "ugh" and turn into HUG. Disgustingly saccharine, yet cute right?

So today I was sitting at my desk bored, and having written 100 thank you notes, I thought, "I should start a blog, I wonder if ahavatcafe is a taken name." That's how this blog was born.

One reason this particular blogname came to my mind was the recent set of etiquette laws the city passed for behavior on the MTA. I am still incensed by the fact that I can get fined $75 for drinking coffee from an open container on the train in the morning. I understand that people are sick of having coffee "spilled on their suits" and that hot beverages can hurt someone if spilled, but let me tell you, I am also capable of hurting someone when I'm bugged before I've had my caffeine fix.

This infringement of my beverage rights has turned me into a nut. I enjoyed the challenge of balancing my new yorker, my coffee, and my huge purse while clutching for a pole (I'm too short for the top bar) and trying to keep myself together on the train.

I remember when the city banned smoking in bars. Every smoker around threw a fit because their lives were inconvenienced. I would see smokers and think "Pick your battles, get over yourself." Now, I kinda get it? I want my coffee on the train.

On a more serious note though, these laws are extremely genteel and unnecessary. This city's trend of policing politeness is just absurd. Also, its a sad thing if the city is so desperate for money that it has to generate laws that are easy to break so it can make some moolah. For instance, you can now receive fines for: leaving your bag on a seat, sitting with your legs in the way of someone else's space, and sitting with your legs so wide they block another seat. This is so even when they train is empty. There are going to be some unsuspecting grandmas and passed out people who are going to get fined and get pissed.

Switching gears, now that you get a sense of how I think, and the kind of stuff that get's me going, you're probably wondering who I am. Well, I am a 23 year old fundraising professional, who is Jewish, and loves coffee, music, ethnic food, silly lifetime movies, new york city, public policy, and chatting. That's enough for now.