I’m Tired of Complicated Coffee Orders

And other things that unhinge me as I wait in line

Photo by Tyler Nix on Unsplash

I am tired of listening to complicated orders when I am on line at the coffee bar or bakery. I’m a simple girl with simple needs: large coffee with whole milk. All I ask is that hot coffee be hot and iced coffee be icy. I’m not an artisanal coffee snob, but I also don’t like the stale, watery coffee poured from a deli’s percolator or a sidewalk coffee cart.

This past Sunday morning, I waited in line at a new coffee bar near the beach at the Jersey Shore, where I was spending the weekend. It is owned by a kind, harried couple, who proudly roast their own beans and offer various methods of brewing those beans. I watched one of the owners make six pour-overs, each cup hailing from it’s own continent. These cups of coffee were part of one man’s order; he waited alone so had likely been sent to fetch his household’s morning caffeine, but one person wanted coffee from Sumatra and another from Guatemala and yet another from Mexico.

Each flimsy paper coffee cup was topped with a precariously perched ceramic bowl, which was fitted with a paper cone and then precious freshly roasted grounds. He poured hot water into one and then watched it drip, one painful drop at a time. I watched the line start snaking out the door behind me, people impatiently shift…