I was recently asked for a favour by a friend from over the other side of the pond. She recently brought her Girl Scout troop over to the UK for a bit of a jaunt through England and Scotland. Fair enough. I did the same thing when I was about the same age. One of the girls saw some mugs in a store that she absolutely loved while at Heathrow. The people at the store assured her she could get the same mugs at their franchise at the gate, so they passed through security, and went on their way to find these mugs in the other store.

They didn't have them.

They tried to leave the secure area, but no such luck, security was, for once, being good and secure at Heathrow (I seriously get searched more in Canada than I ever do in England). So this poor girl went back to the States without her mugs.

Enter me. I'm one of the few people that D knows that lives on this side of the ocean, and she said she'd try and get in contact with us to secure some of these mugs for the girl - you can find them everywhere. So I went and bought a couple.

But here is the crux of the matter.

THESE are the mugs in question.

Now, don't get me wrong. They are lovely, HUGE mugs that hold a hell of a lot of coffee (I think they're the equivalent of whatever fancy Italian name they give to a large size).

But this, my friends, is like spending a couple of weeks in a foreign country and going to McDonald's for every other meal. Honestly. Perhaps if someone she knows collects the darn things, then that I can understand (there's a whole series of these mugs). But if she's attempting to get the mugs as a souvenir of her time in Scotland? Oy. Get something made of wool IN Scotland. Get some whiskey... no, wait, hang on, she's under age, that wouldn't have worked. Buy postcards. When I was that age in Scotland, I splurged and bought a kilt. I bought jewellery (the celtic cross necklace I still wear most of the time... including whilst showering and sleeping, but that was probably TMI). I bought t-shirts. But, honestly, do NOT go to Starbucks and buy a Starbucks mug. Especially when these mugs are available EVERYWHERE. My linking to the Scotland mug was not a mistake - she specifically wanted the Scotland Mug. When I wandered into the Starbucks I could have chosen between London, England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. These mugs are EVERYWHERE! They're not unique! They're not a once-ever opportunity! Hell, she probably could have bought a couple on Ebay, although my services will doubtlessly be faster... and she won't get ripped off - I just checked Ebay... And THE MUG is selling for almost twice what I paid for one of them... and then factor in postage... Ok, so she's getting a deal from me. Well, we'll see what postage costs. She MAY be getting a deal from me. Still.

The only way this girl can now escape my scorn is if she collects these things...

Which I might now start doing. Ok, I admit it. The more I look at them the more they grow on me. I mean, honestly. They're pretty big, awesome mugs. And they'd be a quasi-matching set. How cool is that? And, yes, while I haven't LIVED in Scotland or Wales or Ireland or London... they sell the mugs EVERYWHERE. So I will not feel guilty or overly touristy should I decide to actually buy the damn things.

The things I do for my caffeine...



I Am Reading
Academically: My own paper "Freaks and Creatures: Representing the 'unnatural' in the modern museum" in an attempt to get the editing done
For Fun: Tess of the D'Urbervilles (Thomas Hardy - part of a 'classics' kick I started this summer and intend to continue for a while)