To Make People Happy

It is an amazing thing to make someone happy. I guess I realized that again today as I drank coffee at the coffee shop I used to work at. I have been brewing my own coffee in our little household coffee maker in order to get my fix for the past few weeks. I have done so being that I no longer work at the coffee place and can’t have the stellar coffee that they serve there for free any longer. The coffee I made in that little pot is nothing shy of fantastic, don’t get me wrong at all, I love drip coffee from Mr. Coffee but I have to say that today I tasted something quite unlike my Mr. Coffee made drip coffee. I walked into the building I used to work in feeling ashamed for not stopping by ever sense I quit even though I said I would. I said I would be in often just to assuage the guilt I had for quitting. The truth is I am a people pleaser. The very idea of my coffee-making-co-workers being disappointed with me for leaving made me quite somber. So I said to them I would visit as if my company would make everyone feel better about the whole thing. Obviously, I was not shunned for failing to keep my word. I was greeted with open arms and free coffee, which acted only as a fan to the flame of guilt that I carry, but nonetheless, I could not refuse the free beverage. I put the tiny ceramic cup to my lips, which held the precious macchiato in its bowl and was greeted with some of the most amazing espresso I have yet tasted. I was happy.

I recalled the times of my own employment at that very coffee shop, handing a patron one of the same tiny ceramic cups filled with life giving espresso. Or maybe it was not life giving and maybe I am taking this a bit too far but the point is I made the individuals who frequented that coffee place happy. They would tell me so. Not incessantly by any means but enough so that I new the coffee I made was indeed some of the best coffee they had yet consumed. I credit this to the coffee roaster, God bless him but the fact remains that I was a part of the experience. I could have destroyed that espresso shot but I did not serve bad coffee, at least not often or with my knowledge.

But that was some time ago. It was probably around the time I stopped posting here in “Grace-to-upend.” I have found that not having the routine, that a schedule of college classes provides, I have not been disciplined in my posting. I am disappointed by the lack of posts but surprisingly not because of my desires “to make people happy” (I really don’t want to give my own writing that much credit). My posting in a blog serves as a means for me to write for myself. If others benefit from this blog then I am flattered.

Here’s to future posts.

-oholic

I used to get all offended about people smoking, especially as a kid. I was mean just like all kids (kids really say some of the most hurtful things, it’s true) and I would start to cough fairly obnoxiously when I smoker passed me by. I grew out of that. What developed though was a distain for people who smoked, and yes I was defiantly better than all smokers. My logic was undeniable. Smokers have this terribly weakness; they’re addicted, and the way I saw it I was not and therefore, I was better. It really makes sense if you look at it in that Aryan/white supremacy way.

Well, I got over that probably around the same time I found out that C.S. Lewis was a smoker. Who knew right? Or maybe it was around the time I started smoking cigars. I did that on and off for a few years until one made me puke like eleven times. What can I say; it was a memorable experience for all who were involved (the involved parties remind me of it incessantly).

Currently, I have a new reason not to look down upon someone for an addiction they may have. I don’t know too much about addictions or how they happen all I know is I have joined the ranks. I am not an addictive person, and by that I mean I don’t get addicted to things really, but the alternate meaning is probably true as well. But it appears I have become addicted to coffee. It caught me off guard really. I didn’t even think I drank all that much but man, if I don’t get a cup of joe in the morning I get a screaming headache and I get shaky. It's bad.

I don’t write this to say that I am above any other addiction, because I am told being addicted to coffee is kind of a minor thing. I write this to point out a lesson I am learning about myself: I am not above anything. I am finding I could probably be led to do just about anything. Present me with the right propaganda at the right time, or paint me that deceptive picture in my head and tell me it’s the truth and I’ll bite. I’m addicted to coffee and by becoming addicted I have realized I can become addicted to anything. God is teaching me that I am no better than the next guy.