Democratic Vistas

Someone submitted a comment yesterday on the “Localness” post. He/she felt I was ranting and whining about Oregon and why on earth would I say the muffin tops at Dutch Bros. are less than satisfying.
Just to clarify, Oregon is a beautiful state. I ought to know. I drove around it in circles. I got lost so much I am practically a resident.
Also to clarify: Dutch Bros. has good coffee (juding on my one trip there) and very attractive young women working the espresso machine. They even call you honey (again, judging on my one trip there). I just didn’t enjoy the muffin top (again, judging on a sample of one).
Here was the problem with the muffin top: It was slimey. I think there are two possible explanations: (1) the muffin top was placed in the plastic bag too soon after baking, the steam tried to escape, leading to slim on the surface, or (2) the mufflin top was shipped from Seattle in plastic and frozen, when it thawed on site, moisture collected around the surface, creating slim.
So, here are my suggestions for all coffee shops: (1) when possible, buy from local bakers, (2) if this is too complicated, don’t ship the pastry indvidually packaged in  plastic. You can ship it frozen, just not frozen and in plastic.
To summarize, the only things I didn’t like about Oregon (a very beautiful state) are (1) there seems to be a lack of roadsigns and (2) people give directions like they grew up in Maine (read some of Steinbeck’s thoughts on this point).
The only thing I didn’t like about Dutch Bros. is their muffin tops. Otherwise, I had a very good experience there. I would go back for the coffee and the “honey.”