This morning the never-ending construction happening down the road outside our building created more than a traffic headache. They shut off the water! As if that didn’t seem like a rough-enough Monday morning, the reality set in—I couldn’t make the second pot of coffee.
To help you fully understand the severity of this inter-office crime, I need to offer you a little bit of a back story. I’ve only been at Back40 for just over 3 months, and one thing has become very apparent: our love of coffee. Let me clarify, it’s not a love. It’s a need.
Our office runs on coffee—and we’re not talking decaf.
We are a team of just 18 programmers, project managers, developers, and designers (including the Outlook ladies) all sharing the same pot of this morning necessity. We easily go through two pots by 10 a.m. on any given day—not even including the few coffee drinkers who bring their own K-Cups from home for the Keurig (that’s a little too fancy for my taste).
And, the biggest office faux pas you can commit is “last-cupping” someone. For those of you who don’t know the terminology of coffee lovers, to “last cup” some one is to take the final cup of coffee without making another pot—AKA starting a war.
The first day I did this, it was the equivalent of Godzilla stomping through Tokyo as a co-worker looked for the last cup culprit.
Trust me, that was the last time I made that mistake.
I might also add that we’re also particular about our creamer. Let’s just say, it requires an emergency Target run by any available employee if the bottle even gets low.
I don’t know if it’s the timing or what, but by the time I’m ready for my first cup, it’s always the last cup. I’m like the designated 9:05 a.m. coffee maker.
All-in-all, I really don’t mind our feeding our need for continuous pots of coffee. It’s one of those little things you learn to accept when you work for a great company that appreciates you.
