The coffee cup menace.

You'd think after yesterday's mea culpa I would be more forgiving of others' mistakes, but there's a reason for today's brief screed that goes beyond my own ego and anger. It's for the public safety. Honest! 

The issue at hand is disposable coffee cups. You can't find them. Or at least I can't. The Dart cups, which I believe are the best available, are nowhere to be found. Chinet, almost as good, has vanished from store shelves. Are they floating in the ocean off Long Beach? Have all the machines gone to making toilet paper to avoid another shortage? Where are they? Dixie's are almost entirely absent as well, but even on the rare occasions they may be seen, are still only 12-oz. cups, which is four ounces too few. 

However, I was able to score some 16-oz. store-brand disposable cups for a mere $4 for 12, which is way overpriced. 

There's only one tiny little problem with these:

The slightest pressure causes the top to pop off. Every cup in the pack is like this.

I might mention that I discovered this on Sunday as I got into the driver's seat of my car, which made for a less than ideal situation. 

As a public service, I saw my duty to review this product on the supermarket Web site. I didn't wish to be harsh or rude, but I figured these were probably made in China and someone in the supply chain ought to be warned that there was a lawsuit a-comin' if they didn't look into this. So I told them what I've basically said here, that the product was just fine until you used it as intended. I was lucky not to spill hot coffee on myself. 

Also, I hate those paper sleeves that supposedly protect your hand from the heat of the coffee. They slip off faster than the underwear on an Art Frahm painting. 

Maybe all this was Gaia's revenge on me for using something disposable instead of a reusable cup that goes through the dishwasher. If you go down that road of thought, though, there's nothing left to do but compost yourself, and I'm not ready for that yet. I might look it, but I'm not, honest!