Dunks

There is a phenomena about.  A rash of something across New England.  You see it the second you enter Logan International Airport.  You see it all over the streets.  Everywhere.

Dunkin’ Donuts.       

What is the big deal with Dunkin’ Donuts?

As a West Coast girl Starbucks is really my second home.  Actually independent coffee shops are truly what I desire, but those seem to be hard to come by up here in the NorthEast.

So when confronted with this epidemic of donut shops selling mass produced fried pastries and maybe not the best coffee ever sold I had to decide how I felt about this.  I think there is a continuum for understanding the world.  Those that have lived in one place their whole lives see their home as the best place ever, nothing compares, there is, literally, no place like home.  Those that have moved and travelled understand that each geographic region has something different to offer.  I am pretty far removed from my home town of San Diego.  No longer believing that the only place in the world that one should live is southern California I approached this move to New England with new eyes.  People ask me if I like it here and I usually say,

‘Might as well.’ 

So I eye the orange signs that line our windy old roads here and wonder, ‘what about you?’  I could rail against it and refuse to set foot in a ‘Dunks,’ as the locals call it.  I could stomp around and say disparaging things, and hiss phrases like ‘corporate coffee.’  Or I could be an adult about it.  The way I feel about Dunks can be summed up in a few clichés:

11.        ‘Fight ‘em or join ‘em.’  When it comes to mass quantities of caffeine and sugar, let’s be honest, I’m joining.

22.       ‘Don’t look that gift horse in the mouth.’  I have small children, they often have a drive-thru.

33.       ‘Any port in a storm.’  I have small children, I’m tired.  A box of donut holes is a pretty effective tool in behavior management.

I also have noticed that New Englanders are more protective of their traditions.  Back in the west if you make fun of the Rally Monkey, they’ll just shrug and say, ‘Yeah, I don’t know what a monkey has to do with baseball, but, hey, it’s a monkey!’  Here you make fun of Wally, and I’m a little afraid that they might cut you.

Does America run on Dunkin?  This part certainly does.  It might not be the best coffee I have ever drank, but this iced latte ain’t half bad.