Bowling Alley Coffee

 

                Like most people, I look forward to the weekends.  The busy grind of the work week takes its toll by Tuesday and when I wake up Wednesday morning,  I am already wishing it was Friday.   Fridays are always good days because even if things go terribly wrong, at least you can say, "Thank God it's Friday!"  You can deal with life's curveballs because you know the next day is Saturday, the gateway to weekend life, a true alternative universe!

                 On the weekends I have time, an elusive commodity that  I lack during my work week.  I have the time to make a full breakfast for my children and the time to watch them eat it.  Although my dog wakes me up at 5:00 am as usual, I can go back to bed and get up "late" (which is 7:30 in my world).    I can go for a quick mid-morning run or a longer one in the late afternoon.   I can spend my time only with the  people of my choice, especially my husband and my two sons.   I would assume that my  list of weekend pleasures is fairly common, except for one rather unusual item- bowling alley coffee.

                There- I have admitted it.  I enjoy bowling alley coffee and look forward to ordering a cup of it each week.  I realized this peculiar attachment last weekend.  My son had barely thrown his first warm-up ball and I was already at the counter, waiting with my eighty five cents.  The coffee is served in a white Styrofoam cup and is filled to the top,  leaving little to no room for cream.  I am not daunted by this challenge as I take my coffee to the opposite counter, lay a napkin on the surface,  and get ready to customize my treat.  I add several packages of "cream" (or whatever that white liquid is) and even more packages of sugar.  I slowly stir it all together and then I gingerly carry my filled-to-the-brim beverage to my sons' lane.  I settle into my chair, watch him bowl, and take my first sip.  Ahhhhh.....I am indulging in a true weekend pleasure.

                Now here comes the peculiar part of my story.  The coffee does not taste good.  In fact, it actually tastes quite bad.   It has always been, well, rather horrible.   No amount of "cream"  or sugar can change the bitter flavor.  Other parents arrive with cups of delicious coffee from Dunkin' Donuts or McDonalds.  But I buy coffee at the bowling alley every week and I drink every drop and as I stated earlier, I look forward to doing so.   So why do I enjoy drinking my cup of bowling alley coffee?   

                Routines are patterns of behavior that do not change, and thus provide comfort.    Drinking the bowling alley coffee is part of my weekend routine.  During the hectic and unpredictable weekdays when I often feel rushed and anxious,  at least I know that when the weekend arrives on Saturday morning I will be able to buy my coffee, fix my coffee, and drink my coffee at the same time and in the same manner as I did the previous week.  When I am doing so, I will be watching my son participate in an activity that he truly enjoys and in which he truly excels.  Nobody will be asking me to do anything at that moment.  I cannot leave until he bowls his strings.  I have no task to complete or chore to finish.  All I can do is sit and watch, and sip.