I bought a cup of coffee at a café a few days ago. This simple act is insignificant for most people, but I almost never drink coffee. I visited the café because I’d just picked up an anthology of short plays by Tennessee Williams, and I wanted a quiet place to read; it seemed rude to take up a table and not buy a drink.

As I sat sipping and reading by myself, I thought how coffee always seemed to me to be a sign of maturity. As a kid, I recognized coffee as an "adult drink", just a tiny step down from beer and liquor. During high school, my friend Dan, a year my senior, perpetually carried around a travel mug of the brew. Secretly I viewed it with some suspicion; in my mind, a high school kid was too young to be drinking coffee. But I always put the appropriate age for coffee consumption into the future: even in college, I never felt like I was "old enough" to drink it.

As I sat in the café, reading Williams and drinking coffee, it finally hit me: now, at age 23, I am a mature adult.

Maybe I was always right: as an 18-year-old, perhaps I was too young for both coffee and college. This morning's epiphany reinforced a long-held belief that kids are pushed into college -- and out the other side, into the dreaded "real world" -- far too early and far too fast, before they even really know themselves. What hope do they have to make any real decisions about their futures?

How do you really know you're old enough to drink the coffee?





(True confessions: this is actually cross-posted from my blog. But I thought it was one of my more...interesting entries, so I re-posted it here.)

Yayyy Fae!

I still have no f*cking clue what to do with my life. It doesn't help that I'm being completely irresponsible and prioritizing what I want to do over what I need to do way too much.

Just because I had never commented in this thread about the actual topic (coffee = sign of maturity), I never saw it that way either. For the most part, drinking coffee seemed sophisticated, but not so much "grown up"; although one could argue that the two sort of go together. My parents used to drink coffee with a ton of sugar and cream in it, and they never finished their cup so when it would get cold they let me finish it. I've always liked the taste of flavored coffee, oddly enough, probably for that reason. I love the smell of coffee beans, but I can't stand the bitter taste of coffee alone. I think drinking coffee for me is a taste/temperature thing, though - I drink warm coffee when I'm cold. It gives me something to do when I'm sitting and working on something for a while. It's kind of a social experience on campus, too. I dunno, it's pretty weird, now that I think about it.

Coffee was just a metaphor; I think you did comment on the "actual topic". Coffee was really just the catalyst, the mirror, if you will, that provided a reflection of life.

I love coffee! In fact, I just bought an awesome coffeemaker a couple days ago because I really wanted one... and once you own a coffeemaker (that grinds your beans for you), you never go back to instant. :D

I meant to comment on coffee specifically though, because I thought what you said about it was interesting - somehow in reading the thread, I got sidetracked and never did. xD

just mixed instant coffee wif sreeping pill. DELISH

I replied on your blog to this post. I was bored and saw the link monkey robot and thought I'd give your website a read. I like your posts :D

I love coffee man! I drink it all day! Bout' two to three pots a day! Black. I don't consider it a mature drink...

I know how many awesome health benefits it has! (Plus it's just addictive. If I'm not shaking from the coffee I'm shaking from Withdraw.)

I used to drink it black, too (on the few occasions that I drank it), but recently, I discovered the joys of half and half.

Although I've been drinking more tea lately, too. In fact, I might have some right now...

I have just a little Half and Half in my first cup, then I recycle the little bit of cold coffee at the bottom of my cup as a cooling agent for the hot coffee. I love that plan! And it's vary cost-effective! ;D

The joys of half and half for me were taking a bunch of those little tubs from restaurants and throwing them in the road and either stomping on them or watching cars run them over.

Definitely a lot of fun. Also a side of maturity, too.