Coffee

I didn't taste the glory that is coffee until I was twenty two years old. 

I have no idea why I waited so damn long. 

I was never the kind of person who needed caffeine to get going; if anything, I needed substances to calm me down. 

I didn't like the sound of coffee. In my mind, it was something old people drank. It made your breath stink and your teeth brown, two things I didn't want to experience. My mom drank a pot of coffee daily. I didn't want to be addicted to something like that. 

But. I had a friend Dave who ALWAYS had energy. He taught college full time in addition to being a balledero and working on a novel. He was the kind of person who seemed to wake up perky. 

One day I asked him how he was so productive. He replied simply, "Coffee". 

I mulled over it for a few weeks, then decided to take the plunge. Somehow I knew once I tried it there would be no going back. 

I went over to his house one afternoon, mug in hand, and told him I was ready. He took his time, adding sugar carefully and making sure it was just right. 

I closed my eyes, put the mug up to my face, and took a sip. I instantly felt it: warmth, comfort, peace. 

When I introduced coffee to my friend Jeremy three weeks later he shouted in joy, "I feel so attractive and sexy when I'm drinking this stuff!"

The next day we ordered an espresso machine off eBay and went halves on an inexpensive coffee pot from Walmart. 

I've had months where I drank six cups a day. I've had weeks where I only wanted a few sips each morning. I had an early morning job that involved double fisting iced coffee so that I wouldn't yell at the clients. I've quit for months at a time, only for friends to bring me a cup and say, "Please start drinking coffee again. You're so much more pleasant with it."

It's a part of my life in a way that I never expected. I'll go weeks at a time without it, but when that craving hits I HAVE to have it. It calms me, makes me feel whole. That first warm sip lets me know all is right with the world. 

I know where every coffee shop in town is, and I can produce packets of instant coffee at a moments notice in an emergency. My coworkers tease me because I can't produce that first 'Good Morning' until I've had at least half a cup. 

I'll never be able to quit the coffee completely, and I never want to.