The dark roast with a touch of light cream had escaped the foam cup. The murky brown liquid was seeping all over the granite style counter top. It found its way underneath the cream dispensing machine and the lazy susan that holds the sugar, stirrers, napkins and lids. Just an instant before I had knocked over all 16 ounces of the fresh coffee that I had just poured at my local Nice 'n Easy convenience store.
There were no towels handy to quickly clean up. But, there was a young man who had just finished eating a fish sandwich. He saw the mess I created and offered the brilliant, yet unsolicited advice. He said, "you better tell someone you spilled your coffee!" He was I right. I was busted. I had to confess.
I looked over to the register. The clerk there had a line two or three people deep. The sandwich making counter was also a busy place, but they had three plastic gloved workers serving three or four customers. I approached the one on the end to spill the beans about the spilled coffee.
He quickly eased my mess induced anxiety. He said, "ok, no problem." That was the absolution I sought which freed me up to pour a fresh cup. This time I carefully set the cup down and cautiously reached for a lid. I successfully capped it off and paid my $1.79 at the register.
As I walked out of the story the sandwich maker who said it was no problem was now seeing the clean-up first hand. He was also talking with that young man who demanded the confession from me. I hope they weren't plotting to revoke my coffee club card. Do you think there's fine print on the back that allows for the unilateral removal of a member due to excessive spillage?
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