Coffee

When I finished the History Project,  I decided it was probably a good idea to pay closer attention to things like diet and exercise.  I need to get back in shape and take better care of myself.   This all sounds really good. One element of this reform of my life is curtailing the amount of coffee I drink daily.  I was drinking a lot, probably more than is really healthy or prudent for me.  (Come on, I can use the word prudent without it being too obvious.)  I subsequently cut my daily intake in half, which has allowed me to still have a good four to five mugs a day.  (Yes, I was drinking a lot of coffee in on twenty-four-hour period.)  I have at the same time tried to stop drinking coffee by the afternoon, which is challenging as I work in a place where coffee is free and can be made whenever one wants it.  There is always a pot of coffee going.  Granted, the coffee is not the best tasting java you would ever want, but beggars can't be choosers, right?

Since this pledge to reduce my coffee intake, I have learned that if I drink coffee, I will be happy.  This coupled with all the other benefits to drinking coffee has made me doubt the necessity of this pledge in the first place.  Sure, sure, I can have trouble sleeping, my teeth are going to be ground to nothing soon from all the grinding, and I am a tad irritable from time to time.   I, however, find that I am rather tired in the afternoon and lack productivity.  I am also irritable in a whole new way.  Sure, this might have something to do withdrawal, but I am not convinced of that.

To make matters worse, today is National Coffee Day and people are giving away free cups of coffee!  It is making me cranky.  As a long-time coffee drinker, I had not heard of this day and I now come to learn that my two favorite places for coffee, Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts, are not participating.  I am of two minds here.  Of course Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts should participate and for shame that they are not!  Then again, I might not be able to stand firm in my pledge to reduce my daily coffee drinking.

Let us be frank here.  Unless some doctor tells me directly that I should stop drinking caffeinated coffee, I will not stop drinking it.