She Kept A Parrot
A Journal For Charlie
We Are One Family
A couple of years ago, I included this cup in a post.
My tribute to my friends at Mickey D’s.
Last year at Christmas, I posted the photos of all of my kids who work there.
This year, I’m borrowing a cool photograph by Annalisa Ceccotti
That many of you may find far more interesting.
It is obviously a great deal more professional than my own.
But, I didn’t have a model to sit for me except Rita!
Chuckle…
On a more serious note, this photograph
illustrates, for me, the biases that run through society.
McDonald’s is considered the coffee shop of the proletariat.
Starbucks is considered the coffee shop of the more sophisticated.
It also illustrates the commonality of human needs, desires, foibles…
We are all one species, one family.
Let us be good to each other this holiday.
♥
Have a great holiday, however you celebrate it!
Peace and Love,
Granny
Photo © Annalisa Ceccotti
Full Frame 15.12.2014
Selection of Magdalena Wolkho
34 Comments on “We Are One Family”
Comments
She Kept A Parrot 
My favorite coffee is the one I make at home. On the weekends I like to add a bit o’ RumChata in it. 😉
Hiccup!
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I would think that photograph should give McDonald’s a few ideas in updating their look.
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George, this is a wonderful post >>> and what a striking selfie, Granny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😀
But, once again, I very much share your views on the biases, norms and taboos that run through society – here you’ve written “I love defiance of social norms in any medium.” and I agree with you totally >>> maybe you and I should take over things and run them for the common good! >>> but no, you won’t be allowed to be called Queen George, you’ll just be plain Mrs Weaver!
I get especially worked up about taboos. I talk about death sometimes, sometimes my own and sometimes not, and with some people I get the distinct impression that they regard any conversation about it as somehow off-colour or undesirable, perhaps on a par with open discussion of one’s sexual or bathroom habits. Its hard to know what kind of make believe world such people are living in.
Anyway, another great post from you. What am I going to do when you’re no longer around? Strong drink I suppose … 😉
As always, I hope you’re doing well, my dear. Love from me, Granny! Adrian
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At first I assumed that was your own photograph! I thought, wow, this George is breaking all sorts of photographic barriers! I’m sure with access to the proper model, you could have done it just as well. I would like to see something like this with a chameleon poking around …somewhere…
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Ha-ha! You made me laugh, Linda. Good medicine!! Yes, I would have had Sam peeking over her shoulder, for sure. I should be such a good photographer! Oh well, I’m satisfied with just getting a picture that says what I want to say! And, I’m grateful for that! But you are nice to say that. You always encourage me, Linda. It means more to me than you imagine! Have a great holiday! 🙂
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Mutual support group! 😉 You also, have a great holiday. I can’t imagine you not having a great any day because you are so good at finding the silver thread in each new challenge.
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I hadn’t thought of it that way, but yes, we really are a mutual support group! What a perceptive comment! I would miss my kids there more than anybody outside of my own kids if I could no longer go out. They make me laugh and their faces light up when they see me. Now, what more wonderful reception could anybody on earth receive? We laugh and we mourn together. I know them and they know me. It has always amazed me how such an easy relationship develops with each new kid. How accepting they are of me and how protective. They don’t treat me like an “old person”. I call myself “Granny”, but they call me “George”. It still tickles me to hear them call out, “A George coffee”! I can send anybody to get my iced coffee, and tell the person to just ask for a “George coffee”. Chuckle… Being known at a five-star restaurant would not impress me. Being known and loved there, does!
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Have a great holiday, George!
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Thank you, Richard. I borrowed your usual admonition: “Be good to each other”. It came to me and I knew it was from you! When I see that on your blog, I always smile knowing that it reveals more about you than does your beautiful work. Have a great holiday, yourself! 🙂 And thank you for following me along this path!
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George, I agree with Sue. You could have posed as a young George and I thought that immediately when I saw the photo. Even today I could see you striking a similar pose.. I like that you said “Have a great holiday HOWEVER you celebrate. Peace and love back to you, dear friend!
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Ah, thank you, Jo Nell! I certainly would have struck such a pose, except to a very different effect, I’m afraid! chuckle…
Peace and love, dear friend! 🙂
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Now that is certainly one cool photo, Annalisa’s is also very good! I remember the days when any cup of coffee always tasted better with a cigarette but putting in another vote for Dunkin’ Donuts, and all the good people who have to slog the hours at all of the above mentioned establishments.
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Hey, Thanks for the comment on my photo. Hell, you noticed! Chuckle… Guess I can’t compete with Analisa’s coffee cup…
Yeah, I have the greatest regard for service workers anywhere. I usually know the waiters and service staff in restaurants and hotels first. Chuckle… Guess my “proletariat” origins are in the old genes. I love the social satire that I see in her photo. Perhaps, I’m mistaken, but she seems to be poking us right in the pseudo-sophisticated eye! Thank you so much, Patti. It’s too good of you to visit me here. 🙂 Have a wonderful holiday, and don’t forget the camera!!
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Beautiful, defiant (social) provocatrice.
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Analise certainly employs a provocative image to poke us in the eye. Photographic expression of social satire, well done, if you ask me. And nobody did. Chuckle… She’s creative and one heck of a good photographer. Thanks, Lemony. I love defiance of social norms in any medium. This photo reminds me of the 18the Century British social satirists’ cartoons. For the life of me, I cannot recall who it is that I know about so well from that period. Chuckle… I got stuck on William Hogarth, but he’s not the one! Do you know?
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I remember your Mickey D’s post last year. It was fun. I’m not much of a coffee drinker, but I do love a Starbuck’s chai latte. Does that make me sophisticated? I wonder. 😕 Have a perfect Christmas, George. Hugs to you. xx
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George I love this photo of yourself…. did they pay you well for the model work????… They say that selfies are difficult to take , you have managed to get it right… and this I love “Let us be good to each other this holiday.”
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Ha-ha, Rob! You are too funny! I have to confess that it isn’t a very current selfie… Chuckle…
I hope Santa is good to you…and soon! 🙂 Have a great holiday!
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You absolutely did not fool me for one moment. You know the McD photo is a portrait of the young George. And that includes the model. I saw that picture of you and Deano in the old days. Sophisticated, sexy, intelligent, curious, dynamic woman with her coffee and a cigarette….it is absolutely you. You have made my world a better place. I love the pic and the story and I love you.
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Ah, Sue. You are too kind, but your support is crucial to my well-being. You always make me feel good about myself and whatever I am doing. It is because of you that I am able to feel safe and secure on this journey. Bless you, Sue. And thank you.
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Here in Jerusalem, we don’t have to look for a special place to buy coffee. There are many coffee houses around, and all of them good. Starbucks came here, and closed up rather quickly. They couldn’t deal with the competition. I do like the picture. Very professional, and a pleasure to look at.
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Whatever made Starbucks think they could succeed in a place where people have brewed coffee for many generations and gathered at traditional coffeehouses is beyond me. I loved the picture because it is so like me (the cup and the cigarette, of course….). Such a sleek, fashionable model holding a commonplace Mickey D’s paper cup amused me. Yes, the photo is professional and a pleasure to look at. I liked it, too. Have a wonderful holiday celebration with your family and friends, Shimon! I think of you often.
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I’ll try to be good. I like the photo, even though I don’t drink coffee. I went to Starbucks and bought a muffin for 5 bucks. It was a fairly good muffin but I probably would’ve liked it even better for 2 bucks.
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Yeah, two bucks is my kind of price too. I doubt I’d pay five bucks for a muffin of any kind! Of course, I wouldn’t have looked at the price in the first place. I’m such a spendthrift, as my mother used to say! I don’t even look at the total tab. I hand out my credit card as if it’s a free pass… I just loved the photo because it is so ME. (Well, minus the looks of the model…) Chuckle…
Have a great holiday, Tots, and behave yourself. 😉 Yeah, sure… both of us…
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That’s funny what you said about the difference in the two coffee places George, so different to here, if you like coffee you would never go to Starbucks, it is horrible, Macca’s here does a much better coffee in their McCafe’s. Though if you want really good coffee, you go anywhere but those two places.
YOu have a wonderful and Merry Christmas. Take care, all my love and hugs. 😀
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I don’t drink that bitter Starbucks either. I was just using it as an example of how people think. I suppose I did a rather poor job of illustrating social biases that separate us. We do live in a caste society whether we believe it or not. Thanks for stopping by, Leanne. You have a great Christmas too! 🙂
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Oh I totally agree, about the caste society, the upper, middle and lower classes, or working class, still all exist. I’ve heard people saying they think Australia is an egalitarian society, but it isn’t, there are definitely differences, I think there always will be. I like the coffee comparison, I just meant here in Australia it is different, especially Melbourne, we are real coffee snobs here. LOL
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Ah, my point precisely, Leanne! Thank you! 🙂
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As a daily consumer of Dunkin Donuts coffee I’m wondering of your opinion there? You’re probably thinking, “Damn Yankee coffee.” D PS: I’m wondering what to make of the second photo?
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No, I don’t think of anything as “Damn Yankee”. We have several Starbucks coffee shops here in Victoria. I was thinking of the upscale shops and just used Starbucks as an example. Did you see the new Starbucks “coffee factory” shop? Now that is something else! Beautiful coffee shop where you can see the most sophisticated, shiny brass equipment grinding and making the coffee. It’s a working factory! What do you make of the second photo? I said what it represents to me, beyond, of course, the model. We all have more in common than not. She IS me (aside from the youth and beauty). We share the same needs, desires, foibles, etc. regardless of how we look, our social class, where we live, work, socialize, and indulge in our habits. That’s all, D. And, of course, the photograph is a tongue-in-cheek social commentary… Hope you and Joanna are planning for a great Christmas! 🙂
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I do not like Starbucks coffee. If I want bitter, badly made coffee, I will make it myself for free. I tend to make at least one pot out of ten that has too much coffee grounds in the filter area, so I don’t need to spend $4 for badly brewed coffee or bitter cappuccino that has no resemblance to what I can get at my local convenience store (in three or four delicious flavors) make myself if I buy the instant cappuccino mix. (I have always hated espressos from the moment I tasted them. can still taste the bitterness, even though it has been well over 10 years.
McDonald’s coffee is passable, but I am not fond of fast food coffee, unless I can have 15 packs of sugar (Ok, I exaggerated, 5.) I used to work at Micky D’s, so I am not much fond of anything from there. except the McRib.
This year, unlike last, I will be spending my Christmas and New Year’s alone. Last Year, I spent both with my mum. before that, I spent it with the whole family…and before that, I had my own family to spend it with (wife and kids)–although Happy was a relative term. I take what I can get, though, so am just happy to still be alive enough to annoy some and to worry others. Perhaps I will work on the latter this year…
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Well, Jason, the local Mickey D’s kids make my iced coffee exactly as I like it. I wasn’t comparing businesses here. My point was to illustrate the social biases that separate us. I love my Mickey D family of kids. I don’t eat the food, but the love and acceptance they show to me every day is a treasure. I’m hardly a goody-two-shoes, myself. But, we are all human, and I believe in my bones that we should treat each other kindly. Have a good holiday! Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
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This is great! I love it!!!
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Ha-ha! I loved the photo, too. Some very creative photographer thought of that one. It IS me, with the possible exception of the model… You think? I wouldn’t like iced coffee the standard way that Mickey D’s makes it, but since they make it for me by special request, I can’t live without it, as you know! I am so looking forward to your spending the holiday with us, Linda! 🙂
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