The cup less full

I try to be flexible. I don't keep my schedule so busy that I can't adapt at the last minute to meet a friend out for a drink or go for an impromptu walk around the lake. I'm almost always game for grabbing a bite to eat and getting out of the house. And I seldom send things back or complain in a restaurant. I'll roll with the punches.

But one thing I just don't have much patience for is being shortchanged on my coffee. I know, I sound like Wilfred Brimley talking about his oatmeal here, and you're probably waiting for me to start bitching about how I remember when coffee was twenty five cents and the only way you altered it was with cream and sugar. But no, I'm not about to do that. When brewed correctly and served at the right temperature, the french roast coffee I get from my local coffee shop is worth every penny of the $2 price tag.

But for those of us who still order regular coffee and not a latte or mocha or americano or anything of that sort, cream has been cutting into our coffee. In a sit down restaurant they usually ask if you'd like some, meaning that they'll bring it to you. So that's okay. And at a fast food place, you have the individual creamers. But at a lot of coffee shops they've taken to asking you if you want room for cream. As if you're going to add so much cream to it that you won't be able to find any space for it if they forget to ask.

And too often they error on the side of leaving room. I'm constantly getting coffees that are closer to 3/4 of a cup than a full one. And it's not just at one shop. Maybe it's the economy. I don't know. I just want a full cup of coffee without having to send it back to be filled up all the way. I'm looking forward to old man moments when I'm 80 and can constantly bitch about shit and send things back and say how different things were back in my day. But c'mon, I don't really want to go there yet.