Against Connoisseurship: Why the Fuss? Why the Muss?
From the Editorial Board of The Racket
This newsletter recognises that these days, everyone appreciates the finer things in life. Where once connoisseurship was the reserve of fanatics and snobs, now everyone’s a connoisseur. And there’s so much more on the table today, snobbery wise. It used to be that snobs were associated with rarefied stuff like opera, wine and vintage cars. Now there’s a way to be a snob about more or less everything, from your fitness regime right through to your toothpaste. Chocolate, bread, tea, grains and pulses, beer, condoms … they’re all on the table. We demand to know the lineage of our heirloom herbs, and if a barista screws up our coffee order, things can get physical.
The bottom line is there’s a right way to do everything these days and nothing else will be countenanced.
Well, this newsletter feels that people need to take it down a notch.
Extending intense snobbery and connoisseurship to every aspect of life means you have to be vigilant about every damn thing. In this state one can’t let anything just slide by. You think connoisseur, and you think someone who enjoys the good life. But let’s face it, the good life is hard to find. Most things are rubbish, or quite average. If you’re a coffee 1 per center, that means it’s often going to be difficult to find decent coffee, so your casual no-brainer cup of coffee of an afternoon starts to become a negative thing. Which is a real shame. Imagine you’re ‘taken’ and on the fifth day of the ordeal, your captors offer you a cup of instant coffee. It’s your first blast of caffeine in days, the last thing you want to be thinking is, “I wish my kidnappers had made this in an AeroPress”. It is for such a considered reason that this newsletter is against connoisseurship.
Instead of connoisseurs let’s have enthusiasts. Resist becoming an expert. Maybe the food is just ok, not terrible mind you, but, most importantly, you’re hanging out with your friends, chewing the rag, you have a comfortable seat and, hopefully, you have your health. Everything else is just set dressing.
