Thank God for coffee. If there is ever a time when you have nothing to do, but still want something to do, you can always just grab some coffee.

Yeah, I said grab some coffee.
You don't just drink it, you gotta grab it.

"Hey, what are you up to?"

"Nothin'."

"You wanna grab some coffee?"

That's what we say, "grab".

Because the whole grabbing part is really what its all about. I mean, you could get coffee anywhere at anytime. You even have coffee right at home. But the whole point of grabbing coffee is to get your ass up off the couch, and physically go to the coffee shop to grab your coffee off of the counter and find one of their couches to plop your ass on.

You walk in the coffee shop and you look up at the confussing menu. Everything sounds good, but everything always sounds the same. You can never tell the difference between the gourmet and the fancy, or the royal cup and the fine ground. And what the hell is the difference between the regular decafe and the unique decafe with the smooth distinguished flavor? I think the fact that its decafe already makes it somewhat unique compared to the other coffees.

Its so loud in these coffee shops too, isn't it? It always sounds like a construction site or somethin'. There's grinding and mixing and stirring going on. There are always jets of hot steam shooting in all directions with buzzers going off. Its crazy!

The employees are always screaming and yelling orders at eachother as if they're in the middle of a war zone.

"TWO DOUBLE-DOUBLES ON THE DOUBLE!!!

"WE'RE ALL OUT OF CREAM!"

"STANLEY, WE NEED SOME CREAM UP HERE RIGHT NOW!! MOVE IT-MOVE IT-MOVE IT!!!"

After you finally place your order you have to wait in line. Then at the end of the line you finally get to grab your coffee. You have to be alert, because sometimes the guy behind you orders the same thing, and if you're not paying attention he'll grab yours before you do. It'll only turn into confussion.

You're like, "I'm sorry sir, but I believe you grabbed my coffee."

They're like, "Oh really? I'm sorry about that. I ordered the same thing."

Then the strangest thing occurs. The guy feels bad and hands you the coffee. You would think this is a good thing, but its not. Something about a complete stranger grabbing your coffee before you do screws up everything magical about grabbing a cup of coffee all together. There is just something special about grabbing your cup of coffee when the employee places it on the counter for you. Plus, you don't know where this guy's hands have been.

Then you feel awkward, but you can't help it. You're like, "No, that's fine. You can have it. Its not a big deal. I'll just grab the next one."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

You sort of act nice, but you're kind of pissed off at the same time.

Once you grab your coffee, your mission is complete. You could sit down and talk about whatever the hell you want to talk about, savor your coffee and enjoy the night.

© DiCioccio, 2006.