Be grateful: Coffee can perk up your spirits, too
A.J. Jacobs is grateful. Very. Very. Grateful. Hence, the title of his latest effort, “Thanks a Thousand: A Gratitude Journey” (Simon & Schuster/TED, 160 pp., ★★★☆) – a sweet, slender and simple exploration of positivity that begins with a cup of coffee.
Jacobs is, clearly, trying to be a better man.
That’s quite evident in “Thanks a Thousand,” a book that’s blissfully absent of pontification and full of self-deprecating humor. It starts on a dare from the author’s son and swiftly proceeds to an uplifting journey along a so-called “gratitude trail,” as Jacobs (”Drop Dead Healthy,” “The Year of Living Biblically”) tries to thank every person with a role in the making and delivery of his morning Joe.
The thank-you list swells to somewhat unwieldy proportions and unexpected dimensions. Jacobs begins by thanking the neighborhood barista. Soon he’s with farmers in Colombia, talking to the inventors of the “Java Jacket” that keeps millions from scorching their fingers, safety inspectors, artists, and the people who keep our water safe.
And every thank you drives home the intended notion that we are all, in fact, far more connected than we realize and – in time for Thanksgiving – have much to be grateful for.
A few things to consider over your next cup:
1. A world of coffee lovers.
More than 2 billion cups of coffee are consumed every day around the world and the industry employs more than 125 million people globally. Also, “The Enlightenment was born in Europe’s coffeehouses,” Jacobs reminds us, and over the centuries, “has helped create international trade and shape our modern economy.”
2. Coffee used to be just … gross.
While it has its share of health benefits now, in centuries past, coffee was “often contaminated, dangerous, and just plain revolting.” It was so bad that a long-ago headline from The New York Times warned of “Poison in Every Cup of Coffee.” Among the oddities and impurities found in java around the world: coal ashes, dirt, brewery waste, arsenic and lead. Thank Teddy Roosevelt for signing the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 that helped put an end to that.
3. It’s not just coffee that belongs on the gratitude list.
Jacobs confesses that for all his good intentions, there are moments when he slips into the impatient state modern life seems to engender. “Sometimes,” he says, “when I’m feeling particularly annoyed by something – the rattle of the air conditioner, say, I’ll repeat a threeword phrase: ‘Surgery without anesthesia.’” He does have a point.
4. Don’t forget the goat herder.
If we are to believe the legend, if there is anybody we should thank for the coffee that keeps us going, it’s a man named Kaldi. It’s said that this 9th-century Ethiopian herder noticed his goats jumping after eating coffee berries, which he then decided to try himself.
5. One thank you leads to another.
It’s not only true of coffee, which leads Jacobs to thank truckers, ironworkers, steel manufacturers, and look into the world of shipping pallets, which has been called the “most important object in the global economy.” Gratitude is due to the countless people and circumstances in our lives. In essence, life is a team effort and it pays to thank the other players.
Like readers. So, thank you.