Tea Time Please

Tea has lost its slender in America unless if it is iced or something obscure. Really in the States, tea is just a drink. There are no fancy bells or whistles. There are no pomp and circumstance. It is just a drink. For Britain, tea is something else entirely. The East India Company was established to procure tea form fringes of the empire. They commanded a hefty portion of the monarch’s navy.  It is not just a drink but also a ritual. I witnessed this at the posh department stores of Harrods. Their tearoom had a wide selection of teas and vittles. It was rather funny. When an American thinks of “teatime” its either about golf or the stereotypical period of the day posh British aristocracy sit idly by sipping a mysterious potion called “tea”. It was really so…of course that could be the fact I was drink tea among very rich and powerful people (Harrods has a reputation to be very aristocratic). I felt like I was a player in The Importance of Being Ernest. I had this weird obligation sit up straight and take the utmost care with my table etiquette. I could have easily seen Algy or Lady Bracknell. As I think back to Oscar Wilde’s play, teatime played a significant role throughout the play. When he wanted to make a specific statement about the upper class, the action of the scene happened during teatime. In the third act, Algy and Mr. Worthing are arguing about Bumburying and the future of Cesily. You would think it would be a serious rising action in the plot. It is though, but delivered in the contrary. The two gentlemen’s man argument is about what is being served at tea rather then the main issue.  Algy goes on to say, “I hate people who are not serious about meals. It is so shallow of them…” This is a jag to the upper class. This entire scene shows how trivial people can get when doted in luxury. So drinking tea at Harrods was like trivial comedy by Oscar Wilde.