I’m sorry.

I forget from time to time that many of you are not worldly enough to be familiar with the provenance of coffee cup delineation conventions. I will give you a rudimentary introduction.

First, there are three broad categories: Demi Tasse, Norme Tasse and La Tasse Grande – Small Cup, Regular Cup, and Real Cups! I’ve never dealt much in Demi Tasse, but I have a reasonably sized (not large, by any extreme) conglomeration of Norme Tasse, and although my La Tasse Grande is limited in numbers, it is powerful in scope. It was a finalist in last year’s CA (Cupper’s Association)’s award for excellence. Yes, I am very proud.

For each of the three broad categories, there are three “Rubique de Stockage”. “Rubique de Stockage” doesn’t translate well to real life, but it is something along the line of “Worth in Life”.

There is the Attic Dwellers. They are the downtrodden, the abused. When you hear of a coffee cup revolt in the Middle East, you know it came from the Attic Dwellers.

One major step above the Attic Dwellers is the, Seen but Not Used. They are the ones given the respect to be viewed by the public, with no chance of a sweet kiss. They gather dust. You really don’t want to have mouth-to-mouth contact with them.

And above the Seen but Not Used, are the cups in The Rotation. Think about it… there are 3 or 4 hundred cups in the house. Eighteen get into The Rotation. There is major jealousy and anger when one is replaced. (It was Astoria Column that was replaced by Bernadette of Lourdes. If you get mean and nasty emails from the Column, you know it is because he has accessed my email account.)

There are some shades between the categories, like Yogi’s revered status, but I hope you all have a better understanding of the critical issues of coffee cup delineation.

Thank you.

Richard is still okay.