Of Coffee and Ice Cream
By Daniel Miessler on January 30th, 2006: Tagged as Musings | Psychology
Do people who work in coffee and ice cream shops grow to hate how their main product smells? I was in a coffee shop the other day and I was suddenly struck by this unspeakable notion.
My main idea was simple — given the fact that coffee and ice cream are two of the most unique and favorable smells in the world, is it a good idea for someone to ruin this for life by associating their presence with negativity, i.e. work?
I’d argue that it’s not worth it. If being around coffee or ice cream for 8 hours a day is going to make me hate these amazing things, I’d rather just not do it. Not to be course, but I feel the same way about gynecology.
The bottom line is simple: don’t ruin something special by dealing with it casually in a work environment. You’re not doing the thing a disservice — you’re doing yourself one.
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….all though I can see where you’re coming from we work with computers & enjoy computers at home too…hasn’t wrecked it for me at least yet. :P
Comment by Matt — 1/30/2006 @ 1:41 am
I think there’s a definite possibility for the inverse to happen — pleasant smells make you enjoy work more.
But then, I guess you’re right — it could work out like Beethoven’s 5th in “A Clockwork Orange”.
Comment by Tim — 1/30/2006 @ 9:18 am
I think that this is probably true. Think about Richard. When he worked at Papa John’s, he hated pizza. Also, though, I spend about 4-8 hrs./day studying and I don’t hate school. I am just happy that I am being challenged. Maybe it is just food? who knows. All I know is that w/o coffee, I would be significantly less productive than i am. Acquiring coffee has become a major part of my everyday activities.
Comment by brad — 1/30/2006 @ 4:13 pm