Amuse bouche... Keep cup
“T hanks. Sorry,” said Linda. “But you forgot my KeepCup.” The girl behind the fast-food counter looked at her blankly. “You’ve given me this coffee,” she said, gesturing at the cappuccino in its cardboard cup. “But I had a KeepCup.” The girl looked at her a little less blankly, and went off. “Oh my god,” said Linda’s daughter, Charlotte. “You are so embarrassing.”
“Why?” asked Linda. “You’re the one always giving out to me about single-use plastic and stuff. Half the reason I bought the bloody KeepCup was to shut you up.” “Yeah, OK,” Charlotte conceded, “But the whole, ‘Thanks. Sorry’ routine? Really, Mum, grow a pair.” “Lovely talk,” said Linda, as the girl came back to them. With a large Coke. Charlotte started laughing. It was Linda’s turn to be embarrassed. “My cup,” said Linda. “Not a Coke. When I ordered I asked for my coffee in my KeepCup. It’s back there somewhere.” The girl went off again with the Coke.
“That’s going down the drain,” Linda said. “I told you this wasn’t the place to use the KeepCup. They think I’m mad.” “Who cares what they think?” Charlotte said. “What about what you think of them? They’re the ones messing up. Doing the right thing is more important than what they think of you. God, no wonder your generation made such a mess of everything.”
Linda bit her tongue. Charlotte was 15. This was normal. She was supposed to think that her parents were idiots and Linda’s job was to resist having rants about the ingratitude of today’s youth. Those rants made Linda sound like her own parents. Now there was a generation who made a mess of things. Linda hid her indignation. She separated the rubbish. She even used her brown bin for food waste.
Using the KeepCup was a bit of a pain. All the remembering to have it clean and in the car at all times, and she wasn’t happy proffering it everywhere. Fine if you were going to a hipster cafe or a place that loudly offered a KeepCup saving. In a motorway fast-food place like this, though; maybe not.
The girl came back with Linda’s full KeepCup of cappuccino. The girl put it on the tray. It barely fit, what with the other cappuccino and all. Charlotte snorted with laughter.
“Em, this one?” Linda said, gesturing at it. “Oh, yeah,” said the girl, taking it away. “Down the drain,” Linda muttered to Charlotte. “A waste of time and two perfectly good drinks.” “And mortifying, Mum,” Charlotte said. “Thanks. Epic, epic fail.”