Selfish Do-Gooder

Aside from my trusty 5 x a week honey lemon tea, I've never been a big tea drinker. Herbal tea just never tasted very good.  And then I discovered Trader Joe's peppermint tea and it was a revelation. I'm obsessed. It's so refreshing and delicious. It's like a mood-shifter. A real pick-me-up. It'll cure whatever ails you and I believe that 100%.  Every time I go to TJ's, I buy like 10 (or more) boxes. They joke with me, and I joke with them, saying yeah it's my favorite, can you tell? Or maybe I'll tell them I'm going to give them away as gifts, which I might. But then they say, somewhat more seriously, "you're just saving up for when we go out of stock, aren't you."  And I reply seriously, "that's actually exactly what I'm doing. I'm stockpiling." Because often, as we (the store clerk and I) know all too well, TJ's will run out of a thing and you don't know when it might be back.  I'm still waiting for their instant vanilla pudding and it's been years. Years. One day it was there and the next, poof! Gone. Years.

I remember when I first bought a box of this tea (tea memories). I read the side label which states:

"Trader Joe's Peppermint Herbal Tea makes a refreshing tasting beverage.  It is the menthol in the peppermint that is known for this soothing effect.  Peppermint is an ideal after dinner beverage.  This crisp and refreshing beverage is emerging as a leading herbal tea in America!"

And then it has this really powerful tea proverb or something--

"This first cup moistens my lips and throat. The second shatters my loneliness.  The third causes the wrongs of life to fade gently from my recollection. The fourth purifies my soul. The fifth lifts me to the realms of the unwinking gods."  -Chinese mystic, Tang Dynasty.

That's nice. Well, then I drank it and have since completely subscribed to this religion attitude. SOLD.  I have yet to have 5 cups of tea in a row but I'm honestly, like, sad when I finish my cup of tea. I'm so happy to begin and so sad when it's gone. I mourn a little and sometimes indulge in a second cup.  It really is a transcendental experience.  I've since tried a few others and another good one is Trader Joe's Well Rested tea, a combo of peppermint, chamomile, and other things. It's a good wind down.

So I drink tea about twice a day. I used to save it for after dinner and sincerely looked forward to it all day (my life is exciting). And then I was like, why can't i have it earlier?? You're not the boss of me! (to no one)  And yeah. This may be my neighbor gift for Christmas this year. Or it might be my Jen gift. Gift to myself. Depending on if i've used up all my stores.

Feeling kind of ill-- I think a cold might be coming on, @#$%-- I decided to make myself some earlier today. I knew I had to go pick up the lad soon but, in my excitement to settle in for a nice hot cup,  I believed I had enough time. Or wanted to believe.  But I did not. The tea must steep and the water must be hot (I love that I'm really discovering this for myself for the first time, and now must educate others of this thing that has been done for literal thousands upon thousands of years).  So in the end, I had to leave and my tea was still too hot. I sat and debated for a moment, whether or not I should bail on it and reheat later (gross), or just chug it all and scald everything on its way down.  I really did consider this; i love it so much.  In the end I decided against self-maim and decided to offer it up to Sean.  I was planning on telling him my plight when I realized I didn't have to. I could just make it look like I had made him some tea out of the blue. That way he wouldn't have been burdened with my super sad story of not being able to drink my own tea.

So that's what I did.  I went up and said, "Hey, wants some tea?"  and that's all. And he did and was grateful for it and I did a nice thing which he knew about but that was nowhere NEAR the really nice thing, the true sacrifice, which was giving up something I really wanted for myself. Fortunately all of you now know, so I can walk away feeling really, really good about myself and my good deeds.