Day 29: Tyranny of the Majority

Rest Day in Kansas City, MO — 0 mi, 0 ft

I’m in a pickle: I don’t like coffee. Why is this a problem? Because 5/7 Spokies slurp that foul-scented mud like a pig at the trough.

“Guys look it’s the first of 17 cafes on our route we have to stop!” cries one of the addicts.

The supermajority rules so I have to stop.

Every day.

Every time.

I just don’t understand. I don’t stop every time I see a burger joint, and I couldn’t imagine somebody loving any consumable item more than I love cheeseburgers.

Every day, I roll past at least 8 opportunities to eat a burger in a magnificent display of self control. Learn from me, fellow Spokies. 

This is what was on my mind the morning of June 29 as I read the message in our group chat asking for my “drink order.” You guys have to know by now that I am never, ever, ever ordering anything from one of those overpriced copy-paste millennial cafes. 

Instead, I went downstairs for hotel breakfast. I had french toast, eggs, bacon, and cranberry juice. It was very good. Everything tastes better when you’re in a calorie deficit. 

In the meantime, the team decided to go to a nearby plaza where there was a lot of… shopping.

I’m not a shopper either. At this point, I really started to feel like the Spokes ball and chain.

However, I looked on google maps and found things that made me very happy: ShakeShack and Barnes and Noble.

When we got there, we quickly separated into a group of shoppers, and a larger-than-expected group of nonshoppers consisting of everyone other than Nunu and Aarushi. I convinced the group of nonshoppers to go to Barnes and Noble. Upon arrival, everyone immediately dashed to their section of interest.

• Nate picks up a book on the history of the Chinese industrial revolution.
• I go to the section about Founding Fathers read a biography on John Adams.
• Caroline finishes all of Animal Farm in one sitting.
• Tatiana and Carmen both read philosophy books about happiness.

After I finish enough of my book to feel appropriately informed on John Adam’s role in the American Revolution, I snuck away to Shake Shack while everybody else finished reading their respective literature. I got the double bacon cheeseburger. It was very good.

(I’m sorry this blog is turning out to be somewhat photo-deprived.)

I return to Barnes and Noble and find that tyranny of the majority has forced the team into another cafe. (I recommend checking out The Federalist Papers no.10, an essay written by James Madison, in which he describes my predicament.)

I try Nunu’s Matcha Latte with Blueberry Ube Cold Foam. I presume I’d be a much happier Spokie when I find something at a coffee shop that I like, so I really tried my best to like it, but it just kinda tasted like what I imagine a witch potion would taste like. 

Afterwords, Tatiana, Carmen, Caroline, and I went to Auntie Ann’s where we got some different flavors of pretzels, and I had one of the best lemonades I’ve ever had. In the meantime, Aarushi has taken it upon herself to arrange a free yoga class with CorePower Yoga in Kansas City. 

As someone who can’t even bend over and touch my toes, I was pretty scared. It ended up being really fun, and honestly a lot more physically demanding then I expected. I have a lot more respect for yoga-ers now. 

We took a break for a little while and returned to the hotel before heading to a restaurant hosting a Dutch watch party for the Netherlands v. Morocco game. This game was actually nuts. Netherlands led Morocco 1-0 for the entire match until Morocco scored during the second-half stoppage time. They finished in overtime tied 1-1, sending the teams into a decisive penalty kick shootout. There were multiple airballs, making it likely the messiest shootout I’ve ever seen, even considering my high school soccer experience. I can’t blame them though– this is one the fiercest rivalries between national teams and a single shot can determine whether or not they advance– and it did. Morocco defeated the Netherlands 3-2 in PKs.

The crowd went silent. Everyone went home… including us. Even the smallest amount of empathy is enough to feel devastated in a crowd of disappointed Dutch fans after such a loss even despite having no connection to the Netherlands. It was just that sad. I think we all felt it.

We went to bed, and I dreamt of a day on which no breath was expended ordering a $9 item off a chalkboard menu, a day on which it seemed to be common sense that no amount of daylight was worth spending sipping on some concoction, a day that embodies my vision for a happier, healthier future for MIT Spokes.

– Drew