There is this magical time of the year where it’s not quite cold yet, or in this years case, it’s actually really hot outside. The time where classes are still easy and you still have the motivation to go to a coffee shop, sit down and try to look busy while doing your homework. The homework is probably a syllabus quiz or a 100 word “write about yourself” for your math class which you know is going to get difficult in a couple of days. Â
Next to my laptop is a pumpkin spice latte. I was too embarrassed to order at the counter, so I placed a mobile order under a fake name, something safe, like Olivia, a name the barista can pronounce clearly before calling out “pumpkin spice latte!”. That way, the eye rolls from everyone in line wouldn’t technically be aimed at me.
Which is ridiculous. Why am I hiding my coffee order like it’s a crime? The answer is one word, “basic!”. Somewhere along the way, liking popular things became proof that you don’t have a personality.
But why does liking my coffee with a bunch of cinnamon and pumpkin flavoring make me have any less of a personality? Nobody makes fun of someone ordering hot chocolate when it’s snowing or getting ice cream in the summer. A pumpkin spice latte isn’t really about the coffee anyway, it’s a tradition. You know fall has truly begun once you open up the Starbucks app and see the fall drinks were added to the menu (even if it’s still 90 degrees outside).
Here’s the thing: hating fall has become its own kind of performative. Somewhere between not wanting to be basic and trying too hard to be different, we started hiding the things we actually like. We pretend fall is overrated (which it’s not, it’s actually amazing!), act like we’re above the hype and roll our eyes when we see somebody’s post from a pumpkin patch. But the truth is we all want to frolic around at a pumpkin patch in a cozy sweater with a warm apple cider. Pretending not to care is just as performative as caring too much. The only thing more basic than loving fall is pretending you don’t.
Anyway, the ice in my latte is starting to melt and make my coffee a little too watery, so I’ve got to go back to finishing up my “introducing me” essay for my rhetoric class. I’m probably going to write about things like walking on the beach and hanging out with friends. Groundbreaking, I know. My professor is going to be shocked. Then I’m going to go back to my dorm, putting on a sweater that is definitely too hot to wear right now and refuse to feel embarrassed about it.Â