through the smoke, wave goodbye.

It should come as no surprise to you, dear readers, that I have been somewhat disillusioned lately in my line of work.

I've been making coffee for nearly three years. Though my practice has increased in integrity since the days of automation and the three minute wait, the integrity amongst those filing in to partake remains sparse.

There is an excessive amount of care that goes into each bag of beans we pour into the grinder, whether it be for drip brew or espresso. EXCESSIVE. Their is so much knowledge out there to be absorbed about everything in life; coffee is no exception. The hope is that the more people know, the more they will appreciate. The catch: there is not enough time for the kind of knowledge whose sole motivation is appreciation. Caffeine is the drug, sugar too. So what's the request? Hazelnut syrup in my coffee, please.

There are those that truly appreciate. Adam comes in the mornings for espresso, and he sips it, savors it, from its ceramic home. He wouldn't dare ask for it to-go. A regular used to drink sugar-free hazelnut lattes. I would make them, and each time, post first sip, he would ask me to add more syrup. One day he asked for less syrup, I nearly dropped the sugar-free-sugar laden cup, and he has since made the switch to just plain lattes. He even has an occasional macchiato - a double shot of espresso "marked" by a skosh of steamed half and half.

But these customers are the exception, I explained to a friend earlier this week, leading me to believe that coffee is a thankless profession.

I received a call today from a local restaurant where I have applied to be a part-time server. Perhaps there will be more appreciation in a different service atmosphere, I thought to myself, prompting me to search for serving positions.

Who am I kidding? I have since decided that it's not coffee that is thankless, but the service industry in general. Its the product of a decision to make your living by serving people; there is no control in your sample. Uneducated, unappreciative, spoiled, lazy, rude, friendly, selfish, depressed. This is what you open yourself up to when you invite the public into your work day.

I smoked a cigarette a few weeks ago. That's right. I tried it. Not because I have any desire to become a smoker, ever. I don't understand why anyone would want to pick up the habit. I am not a fan of things that would inhibit my love for running, or squeeze every extra penny out of my already tiny stash, or increase my chances of dying a painful, lung murdering death. But I know a lot of people that smoke, on occasion, free from addiction, so the circumstances surrounding my first cigarette experience were not those highlighting the above cons. I didn't like it. The practice remains a mystery to me. It will now only be a story that I will tell, or remember to friends..."remember that time I smoked a cigarette...?"

And that's what I would like my time in the service industry to mirror. I would like it to, someday soon, be a story I will tell, or remember to friends..."remember that time that I made my living by serving people food and drink...?"