Dates

I’m currently enjoying a hollow cup of tasteless coffee from Starbucks in Vietnam, where they serve arguably the best coffee in the world (in Vietnam, not Starbucks).

It’s really amazing.

So, I don’t really know why I came to Starbucks to have some elixir, since their coffee really is subpar compared to the local option. I guess what attracted me here was the WIFI, not so much the coffee. Also, the possibilities to charge both my laptop and my phone were significant. Had the local coffee places here offered me a quick fix on my battery issues, I’d be sitting there sipping on some delicious Vietnamese coffee*, instead of the all too average equivalent that Starbucks have. It’s not for nothing that Vietnam is the second largest producer of coffee in the world.

Maybe Starbucks do have Vietnamese coffee on their menu, and I just failed to see it? I think they probably have.

It’s fine.

*

When I was at the airport in Bangkok, sitting, waiting to board my flight, I noticed yet again how people always line up as soon as they announce that a flight is boarding. What is going on here? Why would you get up from your relatively comfortable seat and stand behind a bunch of slow people, when you can remain seated, judging them from afar for being that stupid, and just step on the plane five minutes later, with no or at least a reduced line, and find your seat with minimum hassle? The same goes for when you’re about to exit the plane – why do people always stand up, waiting to be able to grab their carry-on luggage? Sure, some people might be in a hurry, but does it really help you to stand up rather than just sit and wait for an opening to exit? No, not if you don’t elbow your way out, knocking everybody down, left and right.

I guess what’s going on here, is that people would follow the stream if a majority or a large part of a group do something together, and you don’t wanna be left out. Like you’re missing out on something everybody else knows.

Likely.

I’d bet that if I gathered a group of people, say at least a dozen, and we collectively and intensely stared at a red brick wall for a short while, people who were walking by would stop walking by, and join us in our stupid activity, thinking that we know something about the red brick wall they don’t. Idiots.

* *

When my plane was hovering over Saigon, I noticed some rural houses, and I wondered when they were built, who built them, and how long will these houses be able to uphold themselves without further renovations?  These are thoughts I think. I really don’t know, and I don’t have the energy to google my way into knowing right now either.

* * *

Since I’m a blogger now, I’ve been using Evernote to take note of some noteworthy thoughts that pop up in my head, to not forget them. It’s brilliant. You can take note of things you see, think or hear, and it will sync to your laptop so you don’t have to write it down twice. This is nothing new, but I haven’t used it since 2012 when I first joined Evernote. Back then, I used it for school, was somewhat unimpressed, and deleted the app.

Anyway, so now when I’ve finally rejoined, some of my old notes were still there in my account, looking at me like “where the fuck have you been all this time”. Mostly, there were notes like “read pages x-y before Thursday”, or “don’t forget to remember this note in the future, genius”, but one note stood out amongst the crowd. This particular note is the uncrowned king of meaningless and repulsive notes, and it said:

– Buy dates

Really?

Apparently, the genius that was 2012-me thought it was of great importance to solely write down “buy dates” in a separate note. Disgusting. I couldn’t write it down next to “buy milk, tuna and chili nuts” on my actual shopping list? Obviously, I was aching for some dates.

I’m fairly positive I never even bought those dates. Maybe I bought some dates, but not those dates.

* * * *

That’s all. You can go now.

* * * * *

* = When inspecting my post after I published it, I clicked on this link about delicious Vietnamese coffee in the first paragraph, and watched the video with the sound on. This made me appreciate Vietnamese coffee even more, even though I suspect this royal song might be Thai.

It’s of small importance, though – the song is absolutely magnificent wherever it comes from, and I’ll use it to enlighten my brothers’ days the whole summer when I visit them.

Life is good sometimes.