Coffee, Black

This morning, as I had a short drive back to my home, I was thinking how great it is to enjoy the very little things, and that being my age was part of that appreciation. It made me think next of an unpleasant encounter that is now just a funny story about black coffee.

Some time last year, I bragged to my teen aged daughter about a local eatery that I hadn't been to in years. I consistently do these things, expecting great results....well, you know. It's still a great eatery, don't get me wrong! But something always spoils these "adventures" I have in my mind. Also, in case I raise ire about putting down waiting staff, I greatly appreciate the hard work that waiters/waitresses do. In this case though, it was the waiter that started things off on the wrong foot.

Any one who dines out with me knows that 95% of the time, I'm going to order a black coffee with my meal. I enjoyed a bit of cream in my coffee in my teens, but quickly found that unadulterated coffee was my preferred choice. Our waiter this day (he appeared to be in his early 20's) was brusque, right from the get-go. When I ordered "coffee, black", a rude side laugh was the response. I asked him what he found funny and he said "That's usually how the 'older set' ordered coffee". Ok, now I'm guessing that if you're in your early 20's, that someone my age seems "old" , but "older set", just sounded "OLD old" to me, not that being older than myself is bad either, because I am consistently headed in the older direction. (Thank goodness!) My response was "Well, I'm 52", thinking this would set him straight on his rudeness. On the contrary, my friend. He said "Yeah, that makes you the 'older set'". Just "Wow" out of my mouth and on my face. And then I thought a "tip" was in order, but I'm "old enough" to know that these are things you learn the hard way (if you learn them at all), and not from "the older set" giving you a lecture on politeness. The meal was not good for my daughter and I, but I suspect that my taste buds had been affected by my annoyance. I won't bore you with the rest of this waiter's rude behavior, but I can tell you the brusqueness continued and we rushed through our meal and left a minimal tip. I DO appreciate the duties of wait staff and usually leave a generous tip. I suspect this waiter will learn to do better, or find a different profession that suits him. (We can't all be sweet buttercups!) For me, this was a lesson on not letting someone else's perspective of me (or my age) ruin my day, but oh, how a different approach on my coffee selection can MAKE my day! A few years ago, a drive-thru attendant called my cup of black coffee "low maintenance" and another called my large black coffee order "living large". Please go forward and make someone's day and avoid letting anyone spoil yours! ~ This has been a proud message from "the older set".~ I'm gonna go have coffee now.