My favorite mug

More than 30 years ago, I bought the mug that is my favorite. It’s a style that was popular then - a much wider base than lip, which means that it does not spill easily. But that’s not why I like it. I like it because of what’s on the mug.

The mug comes from The University of Chicago Divinity School Coffee Shop [1]. It’s black with white lettering. One side says Divinity School Coffee Shop, or something similar. The other side says Where God Drinks Coffee [2]. The mug does a great job of capturing the self-concept of UofC [3]; you know the implication is that God would drink coffee there because of the opportunity for stimulating conversations. As a UofC grad, I believe that the conceit is true.

Unfortunately, even though the mug is tip proof, it is not knock-off-desk-proof. And so, a few years ago, the handle broke [4]. I didn’t throw it away; it’s too important to me to do so. I tried to get a replacement. Unfortunately, they don’t make ’em like they used to. The new ones don’t have the same impact$ the font is different and they certainly don’t have the shape [5].

So my favorite mug is a non-usable mug. That’s probably symbolic of something.

Postscript: I tried to find a photo of a similar mug online. I failed. Maybe I’ll add one to this musing later.

[1] I’m not exactly sure of the ordering; it may be the The Coffee Shop of The University of Chicago Divinity School or even The Coffee Shop in the Divinity School at the University of Chicago.

[2] I’d prefer that it said Where G-D Drinks Coffee, but you can’ have everything.

[3] It was UofC when I was there. The whole UChicago thing comes from domain naming.

[4] Or, more precisely, I knocked the mug off my desk and broke the handle.

[5] I last looked a few years ago. I see that the coffee shop has now been renamed to Grounds of Being. It’s definitely not the same thing.

Version 1.0 of 2018-03-07.