Coffee

So I have a few coffee orders in Australia under my belt. The first couple of times I ordered, I asked for a coffee. In return, they asked "latte, cappuccino...?" Thinking nothing of this, I ordered a latte, thinking it was something fun to order. However, back in the States I'm really more of a black coffee drinker, but apparently not too many people order just "coffee" here. Another time I went to get a coffee with a coworker, I ordered coffee and again the guy asked "what kind? Latte, cappuccino?" I said, No, just coffee. Confused a little bit, he asked if I wanted cream or sugar. I said, No, I'm good. Just black.

During my most recent coffee order, I again asked for (just) coffee. The lady wasn't 100% certain what I meant, so she asked if I wanted it "long black?" I said, yeah, just black coffee with no cream or sugar. To which she responded, "Ah! OK. An Americano." Yes, an Americano. I guess that's how I'll order my coffee from now on. To me, there seems to be no more arrogant or obnoxious way to order a cup of coffee in a foreign country than by ordering an Americano (in an American accent), but I guess that's the way I like it. Can't hide it.

This revelation (as obvious as it may be to those of you out there) reminded me of an Apple ad. I've seen it in the States, but I saw it here the other night. The ad talks about how awesomely designed their products are and then at the end says "Designed by Apple in California." Wow. Doesn't get much more pretentious than that.