'Mugged' by Jim Crockett: Reader Response

“Mugged” By: Jim Crocket : Reader Response
In the essay “Mugged” by Jim Crockett he talks about his relationship with his coffee mug. This essay is about building relationships and how almost everyone has something they cling to. In the beginning he makes it sound like he was mugged by some people and lost all his money, but that wasn't the case, he lost something more valuable to him, his coffee mug. Jim thinks he has an addiction to coffee itself, but in reality its with the coffee mug. People never see him without his coffee mug, and Jim always knows where its at, wether its on the table, or in his hand. I believe that even though Jim Crockett is attached to his coffee mug, everyone has some sort of attachment to something.
I believe Jim Crockett has a somewhat unhealthy attachment to his coffee mug. By reading his essay the reader can infer several things. He seems to be somewhat desperate to control the details of his life. It would seem that Jim Crockett does not currently have any type of meaningful relationship with a significant other or his piers. The way he speaks of his mug “its shape, curvaceous, tapered, slim-waisted, and a bit heavier on top”seems to suggest that the coffee mug serves as a surrogate for female companionship. Jim Crockett’s denial of his attachment to his coffee mug and his justification of his actions as addiction to caffeine seem to be a defense mechanism. While a seemingly superficial object to most people the coffee represents a constant presence in Jim Crockett’s life.
The reader can also assume that Jim Crockett is also environmentally conscious. He speaks of “organically, shade-grown coffee” and the “paper cup and insulating sleeve, both little bits of tree stay in the store.” Jim Crockett shows a very divided personality. While somewhat concerned what his peers seem to think of his supposed coffee addiction he is almost oblivious to stopping traffic to pick up his coffee mug that he left on his bumper. It would also seem that Jim Crockett is somewhat apposed to a big business and corporations based on his jobs as a spanish instructor, some writer, farmer, and carpenter all decidedly, independent professions as well as his mentioning of the “earth/human pillaging multinational cartel.”
While Jim Crockett seems to have a rather unhealthy fixation to his coffee mug we all have attachments to some inanimate object. I can relate to his attachment because as a child I received a blanket, it still gives me a sense of security and well being. It would seem that there is a fine line between sentimental attachment to an object and borderline fixation. While all of us value and are given comfort by certain object how many of us would stop traffic, risking life and limb, to retrieve that object if it were lost.
In conclusion the essay “Mugged” shows an obsession with an object in an attempt to control ones life and find fulfillment in the object and shows an extreme example of borderline obsessive-compulsive disorder. Jim Crockett’s disdain for corporations, pollution, and obvious lack of personal relationships had lead to a very unhealthy relationship with something he can control, a coffee mug.