The woman standing at the front of the line in the coffee shop says, “I think I’ll have an Ethiopian.”

“This is the best choice,” the barista tells her and nods at the manager who brings an Ethiopian man out from the back room. The manager explains to this woman that aside from the recognizable body odor, this man, the Ethiopian, is mute, deaf, homeless, and is basically starving. After thanking her for her support, he says to all the rest of us standing behind the woman in line, “For your mere two dollars and change, per day, you too, like this woman, can take an Ethiopian home.”

“You can teach this man how to read, bathe him and lay him down to sleep every night with Vivaldi coming lightly over the ceiling speakers in the guest room from your Bose system, top of the line, every room with surround sound.”

“And you might even eventually learn to fall in love with your Ethiopian man as you see how eager he is to please you by rooting for the Giants, doing various odd jobs around the house and learning how to fire up the grill so as to prepare the meat exactly how you like it.”

“For the price of a mere cup of coffee per day. That’s all it takes, folks. And if you don’t think the Ethiopian is to your particular liking, we also have a Costa Rican, Guatemalan, Kenyan, Colombian, and a full-bodied, earthy Sumatran. And I’ll tell you what else. As a token of our gratitude for your generous support for the next hour only, with every dedicated credit card we’ll also throw in a French roast, complete with potatoes au gratin and a hot baguette.”