Drip, drip, drip -- ahhhh. Yeah, you smell that? That’s a good ol’ cup of joe freshly brewing (I’d say pot of coffee, but who does that anymore). I think us college students - and well everyone else on this planet -- understand the struggles that come with waking up early in the morning.
You’re laying in bed, questioning if you even want to start this day, while catching up on all your new messages, Facebook notifications, missed calls, tweets, emails, Instagram likes and Snapchats (I’m totally joking; and if you wake up to that many notifications, I’d suggest going on a hike, or reading a book instead). Eventually, you convince yourself to get out of bed. Trying to plan your day while on your walk to the shower is hard at first. Am I supposed to receive that package in the mail? Did I ever actually get a hold of that one person?
One thing to look forward to in the morning is your cup of delicious joe waiting for you to finally wake yourself up. That one cup will honestly turn your outlook on mornings all around.
It’s fair to say that this daily ritual is different for all of us. For some, you’ve already had two cups before you even hit the shower. For others, it’s hard finishing your cup of joe plain. Whether you drink it black, with a whole lot of creamer, coconut flavored, or you like to try it different each day, we are all addicted to coffee.
Considering that the ways we drink our coffee are all different, it’s safe to say we all have different stories about how and why we started drinking it as well. Whether it was thinking you were too tall and trying to stunt your growth, or you had ADHD and coffee actually calmed you down, we all found that love, and that addiction, in coffee.
The love coffee and I have for one another has only grown stronger throughout the years of my life. It started out as a treat, a once-a-month surprise blended with Starbucks whipped cream -- yum! As I grew older, it became more serious; we started to depend on one another. Now I insist on two cups before I leave for work and one cup to go with my dessert, which was something I thought only my parents did, but you should try it.
A cup of joe is a different experience for all of us: the time during the day that we enjoy it, the decisions we make without it, the energy we bring with it, and the conversations you start over it. Even the saying “cup of joe” has meaning beyond what just meets the eye. The slang name dates back to World War I; Josephus Daniels (Joe), previous secretary of the U.S. Navy, was known for his strict mortality expectations of his soldiers. He increased the number of chaplains on his bases, discouraged prostitution, and, most controversially, banned the consumption of alcohol. With that being the case, the soldiers started to consume coffee a lot more frequently, and that was how the saying “cup of joe” was coined. Joe is honestly a way of life.
