It’s important that my morning coffee be just right. Regular coffee drinkers feel me. Add one extra sugar or 2% milk instead of cream and you run the risk of having your day spin out of control. So when I find spot that can make that good cup o’ joe I stick to it faithfully….through the good and the bad. Well, the bad’s been happening lately in form of a new employee. Either she’s the owners daughter or she was sick the day they showed the training video. Either way she cannot make MY coffee. No matter how slow I give her the order she’s always giving me back something different. And most of the time it tastes like she used dishwater as a base for the brewing. Yuck. It got so bad that I noticed she mainly worked the drive-thru, so I would make it a point to park, get out of my car, check to make sure she was still in back, then go inside. Well, I don’t know if she likes me or she’s trying to kill me with that witches brew she’s dishing out but last Wednesday she surprised me by popping from out back, getting in my face with that “Hey…I recognize you!” smile, and asking, “Can, I help you?” Honestly, I tried to play it off like I was studying the pastries and I didn’t hear her…but then she gets right directly in front of my line of vision and asks again.
*Damn.*
“Umm…small regular, please.”
I had given up on detailed orders as they seemed to only make matters worse.
So, I’m crossing a parking lot, coffee in hand, about to jump on the subway, and rather than risking a day full of caffeine withdrawal symptoms I’m trying to suck this horrible concoction down. And I’m thinking to myself, “Damn, she got me…..again.” when suddenly a pick-up truck turns into the parking lot and guns right towards my direction. I thought that the driver saw me and was going to slow down until I got on the sidewalk. Well, he didn’t slow down and forced me to jump back like a cat in a video rewind sequence. It was on some real Matrix sh*t. As the nose of the truck brushed past my stomach I immediately turned my head to see who was behind the wheel. I got a glimpse of the driver. Then a glimpse of the black side view mirror. Then all I saw was light. And I vaguely remember seeing a brief flash of my childhood puppy that ran away and got hit by a car.
“Norton? Is that you buddy?”
“……..Norton???”
Now, it must be in human nature that any time one trips, falls, or generally busts their *ss that they must spend no more than 1.2 seconds on the ground then hop to their feet before they realize if they are hurt or not. Because, that’s exactly what I did. Then I ran up to truck to confront the driver. As soon as the door opened I greeted a middle-aged Spanish cat with a hostile “WTF?!?!”. (You know how we get.) He responded with a barrage of apologies and excuses. I was shaking. He was shaking…then he began hugging me. I looked at his truck…a company vehicle. I looked at his face….almost in tears. I looked at my coffee cup on the ground….coffee everywhere. I calmed down and said, “It’s cool, man. I’m ok” I patted him on the chest and broke away from his embrace. “I gotta get to work.”
On the train I thought about the driver and how relieved he must have been not to have to face any legal actions or the possibility of losing his job. And I chuckled, because he had no idea how relieved I was not to have to drink that cup of coffee.
Once at work, I restarted my day with another cup.
*Damn.*
“Umm…small regular, please.”
I had given up on detailed orders as they seemed to only make matters worse.
So, I’m crossing a parking lot, coffee in hand, about to jump on the subway, and rather than risking a day full of caffeine withdrawal symptoms I’m trying to suck this horrible concoction down. And I’m thinking to myself, “Damn, she got me…..again.” when suddenly a pick-up truck turns into the parking lot and guns right towards my direction. I thought that the driver saw me and was going to slow down until I got on the sidewalk. Well, he didn’t slow down and forced me to jump back like a cat in a video rewind sequence. It was on some real Matrix sh*t. As the nose of the truck brushed past my stomach I immediately turned my head to see who was behind the wheel. I got a glimpse of the driver. Then a glimpse of the black side view mirror. Then all I saw was light. And I vaguely remember seeing a brief flash of my childhood puppy that ran away and got hit by a car.
“Norton? Is that you buddy?”
“……..Norton???”
Now, it must be in human nature that any time one trips, falls, or generally busts their *ss that they must spend no more than 1.2 seconds on the ground then hop to their feet before they realize if they are hurt or not. Because, that’s exactly what I did. Then I ran up to truck to confront the driver. As soon as the door opened I greeted a middle-aged Spanish cat with a hostile “WTF?!?!”. (You know how we get.) He responded with a barrage of apologies and excuses. I was shaking. He was shaking…then he began hugging me. I looked at his truck…a company vehicle. I looked at his face….almost in tears. I looked at my coffee cup on the ground….coffee everywhere. I calmed down and said, “It’s cool, man. I’m ok” I patted him on the chest and broke away from his embrace. “I gotta get to work.”
On the train I thought about the driver and how relieved he must have been not to have to face any legal actions or the possibility of losing his job. And I chuckled, because he had no idea how relieved I was not to have to drink that cup of coffee.
Once at work, I restarted my day with another cup.
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