I’ve got a theory that there are two types of people in the world.

The type of person who likes to have all the mugs in their kitchen from matching (or at least coordinating) sets, and the type of person who thinks that each mug in the house should be individual and special.

Now, I’m one of the later and always have been. I think I was seven or eight before I realised that some people even HAD coordinating mugs. Even now when I go places and all the tea/coffee comes in beautifully matching cups I raise an internal eyebrow.

I mean, how are you supposed to tell which drink is yours (other than the obvious that it’s the one in front of you, I’m not that blonde)? What if I only want a small cup of tea or, conversely, need to drown my sorrows in a “bucket” as they’re termed in our family?

Matching sets are just… well, impractical. What if one gets broken? Suddenly your perfect set is a set no more and you just know you’re not going to be able to get a replacement that matches.

Plus, they are so impersonal.

My mug is my mug. It’s the perfect size, shape and weight for a cup of tea. Other mugs just aren’t the same to drink out of – when I was working in the lab, I took my favourite mug in with me because I spent so much time there. And heaven help anyone who drinks out of my mug in the office… So it’s only a cheap £1 mug from Asda with a sheep/cow on it, but it’s mine, damn it!

I’ve strayed off the point somewhat.

As I started to say, I’m working on a theory that there are two sorts of people in the world, let’s call them the “Matching” versus the “Eclectic”. This isn’t to say that one group is right whilst the other is wrong, just that the people I’ve observed tend to fall in one camp or the other and it’s fairly indicative of how they live their life in general.

And don’t even get me started on the whole mug tree debate!