The Great Pumpkin…Spice Protest

As students begin to get back into the rhythm of school and the weather finally starts to cool down, the loom of autumn comes. This is the time that all the Etsy and Pinteresters all wait for: pumpkin spice season. While others rejoice, many of us grumble and hide our disgust of the over-popularized flavor.

Starbucks, with their pumpkin-spice lattes, unknowingly started what some could call, a cult. Like most cults, from the inside everything seems perfect, who wouldn’t want pumpkin-spice flavored lip balm and scented deodorant? But for those of us on the outside, we must keep our thoughts to ourselves, quietly ordering our regular coffees and no, we don’t want to sign your petition about why Starbucks should have pumpkin-spice lattes available all year round.

I am what you might call a pumpkin-spice renegade, even as a child I never liked pumpkin pie and never saw the appeal, but little did I know that the one day a year of scrutiny would eventually turn into a whole season! It seems as if they come sporting their Ugg boots, yoga pants and pumpkin-spiced scented torches and pitchforks when you express your distaste for their spicy flavored coffee and squash-scented candles. Even the craft-beer industry has created a whole market for men who might be too embarrassed to order the flavored coffee, but delighted to show off their artisan pumpkin-spice IPAs from some obscure brewery in Colorado.

No matter how much I stick my nose up at this pumpkin spice flavored obsession, I must pay respects to the real tradition, pumpkin pie. Around only once a year and an American tradition, pumpkin pie is a respectable form of love for pumpkin spice, like pecan pie or cherry pie, yet somehow I haven’t heard about a pecan pie latte! I can only hope my pie-coffee day will come. So remember during this upcoming holiday season to be tolerant of those of us who do not share the same autumn values as many others do.