Lattes and Legacies

Elaine dared take in a glance of Rueben as he did this thing by the sprawling coffee machine. The line was always long here in the morning, but the coffee, and the view, was worth it. Elaine sighed, “Oh Millie, that hair cropped short, the colour of espresso, eyes the colour of coffee beans. The intensity from a look from them is like a shot of caffeine, it instantly perks me up!”

Millie gently rolled her eyes and grinned at Elaine’s description, “I think you may be getting a little carried away,” she gently cautioned.

“I’ll have you know he curated love heart latte art on my four of my five morning coffees last week,” and she left the words hanging. “Well that is promising,” Millie replied cheekily.

Rueben had become a part of the cafe just a month ago, and he’d certainly attracted Elaine’s attention. Today Elaine and Millie were fortunate to have time to share their morning coffee on site in the cafe, clearing their schedules for a long overdue catch up.

Elaine had spent the weekend away wrapping up her Great Aunt’s affairs, returning with a small sum of money as an inheritance, and a plethora of wonderful memories of her favourite relative. “Question is,” she posed, “What to do with the money?” Elaine acknowledged it was a relatively small sum in the scheme of things, however she wanted to do something meaningful with the proceeds.

As they took their seats, Rueben came to take their coffee order, and Elaine had hoped their encounter would have gone a little better.

“We’ve gone from love heart latte art to seemingly not knowing my name or my coffee preference,” she said a little discouraged.

Millie had a giggle, Elaine tended to over-dramatize. “What was it you loved most about your aunt?” she enquired.

Elaine’s eyes lit up as she spoke about the times spent cooking with her aunt, and how her Portuguese Tarts were always a favourite; unfortunately though, she’d never mastered those in the time spent with her.

“Well, time for a legacy then,” Millie suggested, “take a course that specialises in desserts and ensure Portuguese Tarts are a part of it,” she said confidently. “It will be like you’re cooking with her every time you make them.”

Reuben approached with their coffees, and caught the end of Millie’s remark, while Elaine’s back was to him as she said with some disdain, “Or I could get myself a nice coffee machine and save some money in the long run, with less heartbreak!”

“Oh come now, Elaine,” Rueben said gently as he placed her latte down in front of her, a gorgeous, personalised heart at its centre, “then I won’t get to make you love-heart-lattes,” and he gave her an over-done pouted bottom lip to consider.

Elaine’s cheeks flushed a little pink, and went redder as he said, “and Portuguese Tarts go great with coffee,” with a knowing wink. “I’m actually doing a course in a few weeks to up my game in the kitchen, wanna come along?”

Millie then quipped, “A coffee machine requires maintenance and eventually, replacement …” she added. As Elaine mulled over Rueben’s flirtatious latte art and her inheritance, she realized she was at a crossroads: should she invest in fleeting pleasure or a lasting legacy?

As Elaine considered signing up for the baking course, she couldn’t help but smile. Her aunt’s legacy would live on in every tart she made—and Rueben’s heart-shaped lattes weren’t a bad bonus either.

Rationale:

Research suggests that usually the extra happiness you get from a material purchase wears off quickly, and psychologists have showed that the joy of anticipation was higher for people looking forward to experiences; whereas when people considered a material purchase in advance they felt no happier.

Dunn, E.W. et al (2011) If Money Doesn’t Make You Happy, Then You Probably Aren’t Spending it Right. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 21, 115-125

Kuma, A et al (2014) Waiting for Merlot. Anticipatory Consumption of Experiential and Material Purchases. Psychological Science, 25(10), 1924-1931