I love coffee.
This didn’t used to be true. Back in high school I couldn’t stand the stuff – hated it with a passion. My friend Jerry and I used to hang out at Foster’s Donuts at 2:00 a.m. a lot. He would drink gallons of coffee, smoke two or three packs of cigarettes (you could still smoke indoors back then) and tell me his latest girl troubles… Jerry always seemed to be having girl troubles. I would sit and nurse a hot chocolate, listen and nod sagely (as if I knew any more about relationships than he did). It wasn’t until I started my job as a convenience store auditor that I actually started drinking coffee. We lived in the Midwest, and the winters were excruciatingly cold (especially for this California boy). When you’re that cold, someone could hand you a hot cup of phlegm and you’d drink it. The coffee was plentiful and free, so I got into the habit of drinking it. And at first it was like drinking a hot cup of phlegm, but after a while I got used to it. These days I can’t get through the morning without it and have become a little bit of a “coffee snob.” No, I don’t grow and roast my own beans or anything, but I do want my coffee freshly ground (a burr grinder is preferable) and made with filtered water. The swill they serve at most restaurants just won’t cut it.
For a while I was drinking a lot of coffee, and I mean a lot. But recently I decided to cut back on my intake and have managed to get it down to only one pot in the morning – except on Fridays (which is my “early” day) when I chase that pot with a venti iced latte from Starbucks. It should therefore come as no surprise that when I spotted a very large travel mug at the store that I immediately said to myself, “I’ve got to have it!” It was perfect – spill-resistant lid, insulated, stylish metallic sheen, and it held 24 ounces. I could dump my entire pot of coffee into it in the morning and not have to worry about it. I didn’t get it right away, however. I’ve never been an impulsive shopper, so I kept putting it off. I’d pass it by as we were grocery shopping, look longingly at it, and just not buy it. Until, finally, a few weeks ago I just said, “What the heck” and put it in the shopping cart.
I hate it. What can I say? It’s big, bulky and hard to hold. It’s lopsided and keeps wanting to tip over when I bring it with me in the car. It totally ruins the relaxing feeling I used to have holding a smaller mug in the quiet of the morning. I wish I had never bought it, and find excuses not to use it.
So, I guess the point I’m trying to make is that coveting is not a good thing. W.W. Jacobs had it right that we should be careful what we wish for, because we might receive it. I know that a coffee mug is just a little thing, but I think the same holds true for larger things. At least that’s what I’m planning on telling my kids when they find out we didn’t get them anything for Christmas.
