"Behind every successful woman is a substantial amount of coffee."*
There are good coffee days and there are not good coffee days. It has nothing to do with the taste of the brew, although a weak blend can try anyone's patience.
Good coffee days lend themselves to only one cup for the day. It's a satisfying place to be. I don't leave my coffee mug on the roof of the car as I exit the driveway. Things get done all the way to 'finish.' Co-workers don't intrude on your space and the microwave doesn't steam lunch into a gooey mess. The good coffee days are when you read an article that supports one's own prejudices about the benefits of drinking coffee—things like coffee provides antioxidants, may help fight against dementia, Parkinson's disease and type 2 Diabetes. Women in a recent Swedish study who drank at least a cup of coffee every day had a 25 percent lower risk of stroke, compared to those who drank less coffee or none at all. One appreciates these articles, as they offset another recent article that said coffee consumption results in heightened anxiety, caffeine addiction, or (gulp!) dry skin.
Good organic, fair trade coffee purchased out of a bin at the local natural foods store makes me feel virtuous and right in supporting the workers of the world. Coffee made at home in my beloved coffeemaker is the best. This cup of coffee has just the right amount of organic, brown sugar and organic soy milk. It's just the right temperature, as I pour it into my favorite insulated mug—the one that says “A day without coffee is like a day without coffee.” Ah, a good coffee day. The sun is shining, my laundry is folded and that ex-best friend from high school's Facebook picture makes her look ten years older than she really is.
The bad coffee days result in that afternoon second cup of brew. Things are piled high on the desk and everything gets recorded on sticky notes instead of lining up neatly on the To Do pad. The phone sits silent until the exact moment when I decide to place a call on my cell phone. Bad coffee days are cloudy times when co-workers never seem to be able to put the new roll of paper towels on the roller in the kitchen. Perhaps, I should type out instructions? The bad coffee days include the ones where I wake up, stumble out to the kitchen, open the cupboard only to find that my suddenly new coffee drinker in the house, age 17, has neglected to tell me that he used the last of the ground beans during a late night study session over Skype. On these days, I could almost be convinced that coffee consumption might result in high cholesterol or a stroke, if I had the time to worry about it. I'm certain that coffee's co-dependent partners are pastries and cookies. My body can't ingest one without the other. It doesn't help that a co-worker's two-day-old birthday cake is in the break room. The one she brought to share, but later confessed she couldn't resist the temptation if she was left home alone with it. Right now, the cake is plotting with the coffee pot against my waistline. However, let's be clear. Chocolate in any form, even on bad coffee days, does not count as sugar consumption among any women I know.
Here's a picture of my desk. Was this a bad coffee day or a good one? If I hadn't spilled my coffee all over my desk, I wouldn't have a photo opportunity to include in this blog post. I wouldn't have been able to rationalize buying a replacement latte from our local barista, nor would I have gotten out the spray furniture polish and cleaned my entire desk. It's actually perspective. It's really not about the coffee.
*coffee quote from Stephanie Piro, a cartoonist for Six Chix, who draws and writes “Fair Game.” Her latest book is "My Cat Loves Me Naked.”
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