Coffee

I’ve always associated coffee with that phrase “kick back and relax”. Some have reading. Others crosswords. For me – well – I’ve always enjoyed a hot cup of coffee on a chilly day, the two extremes each accentuating the other.

Unfortunately, my susceptibility to insomnia has resulted in a great injustice. I can’t drink coffee for a majority of the week, at least, not if I want to sleep. That’s not to say that I’ve dropped the vice entirely. On the contrary, I usually ignore my better half on Fridays and indulge myself, but I pay for it over the subsequent day/night blur.

It’s ironic that at the precise time that I can’t drink coffee regularly, I’m surrounded by places swilling the stuff. From the little kiosk at the GO station to the seven coffee establishments I pass while walking to work, I’m spoiled for choice.

Let’s start with the job. Like most software development houses, my workplace is fuelled by coffee. With a Keurig brewer, 12 boxes of Van Houtte’s ‘finest’ [shakes head] and enough cream, sugar and milk to stash a small army, one could indulge one’s addiction to their heart’s content.

My commute? Well – I’ve already mentioned the GO station. But if that doesn’t strike your fancy, perhaps the unknown independent on University Ave. will do. Perhaps the two University Ave. shops whose prices reflect their ‘cafe-on-the-street’ rents are more to your taste? Or the four Second Cups?

Well – I find myself ending up at Second Cup.

Ending Up. Almost as if it were by accident. There’s nothing accidental about it. Unlike the well-heeled Bay St. business men/women with their green-white cups proclaiming to the world “I drink Starbucks! I’ve made it in the consumer culture!”, my tastes are more plebian (and oddly enough – patriotic).

Not to mention – I really do like their coffee :-)