"Welcome to Five Senses Coffee"

Last month, as part of our monthly Home Barista newsletter, we invited our readers to take part in a short online survey. It was great to receive feedback on what we are doing well, as well as hearing how we can improve; we are looking forward to implementing some of the many suggestions. Thanks to all of you who participated.

As part of the survey, we threw in a couple of light hearted questions about 80’s television, just trying to be funny, in a typical 5 Senses way. The questions were straightforward, with obviously correct answers, but much to our horror, it seems that our fantastic 5 Senses customers don’t know what they are talking about when it comes to 80’s TV.

Now, I consider myself to be a bit of an 80’s expert. I was a child of the 80’s, growing up in the sprawling suburbia of WA. To this day I still frequently use the word mint. I still have my full set of ‘Return of the Jedi’ collectors’ cards. I can’t play a musical instrument, but if I did, it would most definitely be a keytar. I am the 1980’s!

Given all this, I was stunned that Family Ties was not chosen by our readers as by far the best TV sitcom of the 80’s. Family Ties was groundbreaking stuff. It had everything you could possibly want. The lovable, slightly wacky, dad, Steven. The guitar-playing, hippy-loving, never get angry, never a hair out of place mum, Elise. The wisecracking, genius, oldest son, Alex, played by the biggest star of the 80’s – Michael J Fox.

And of course Mallory. Ah, sweet Mallory. She played the middle child, living in the shadow of her smarter, older brother. She was lovable, she was funny, and she was just a little bit hot. You just need to say “Mallory” and anyone who was really alive in the 80’s knows who you are talking about. She was the Beyonce of her time. She was mint.

There was, of course, more. Tom Hanks, actually appeared a couple of times as the alcoholic uncle, and it was undoubtedly this role which launched his stellar career. Jennifer was the third child, and although she couldn’t hold a candle to Mallory, she played her part as annoying younger sibling to a tee.

All this, and yet some people chose not to vote it the best sitcom of the 80’s. C’mon, what you talking bout Willis? The Cosby Show was actually the show that got the most votes. Now, the Cosby Show was ok, but basically, it was a one trick pony. Bill Cosby was hilarious, but what else was there? A cute little girl, the wife who was always grumpy, a couple of whiney teenagers (Theo and Vanessa had virtually no redeeming qualities). Good, because of Bill Cosby, but definitely not mint.

We hope that after these ramblings, some of you might reconsider. Here at 5 Senses, we are very committed to educating people. Usually about coffee, but we are more than happy to branch out into important topics such as 80’s sitcoms, and help point people in the right direction.

Now what can I say about the people who chose MacGyver over Magnum PI? Hmmm….