Coffee Shop Moments

The Aztec, my favorite coffee shop in Santa Fe, is a quaintly, artistic, a-little-bit organic, locally-owned tea, coffee and bagel shop. Surrounding the outside brown adobe walls, the purple and red trim that your kindergarten teacher might use in a classroom display greets you with a smile. An extra large hand-painted cappuccino mug hangs over the entry door as if to say "Hello. Please caffeinate." One generally stands in line to order your selection of the day at the counter full of gluten-packed cookies, cakes, breakfast burritos and a few token green bananas. You get the picture.

I'm not much of a coffee drinker---I tend to like it with loads of milk and---ok, I'll admit it--brown sugar. I don't even really like the coffee part: usually, I ask them to put in a 1/3 of the coffee they might otherwise use. It's all about the sugar really. My suspicion is it's those little bad intestinal bacteria that hitched a ride from India, who are yelling from the depths of my belly at the top of their little voices, "Yes! Get the Coffee!!!! Sugar! Sugar! Sugar!" Or it could be the sugar addiction that I was probably born with and systematically struggle with. There I said it. Admitting it is the first part of recovery, right?

So: should I succumb to the coffee urge or try to train the new counterperson on how to make the mate latte with soy milk that I prefer (and yes, this one has a bit of honey)? It's a hit or miss scenario with the new people and when there is a line behind me; I hesitate to have them remake it when they screw it up. Translated this means that there is a 50/50 chance that I will be left with a $4 undrinkable morning beverage. It's a toss up.

As I look around the room at the familiar faces and offbeat artwork hanging randomly from the walls, I pause.

I take a deep breath.
I smell the coffee.

I hear the Beatles singing:

Try to realize it's all within yourself
No-one else can make you change

I take another deep breath.

It's my turn. I order a mint tea without sugar or honey. One deep breath at a time.

                                             A painting of the Aztec by local artist Jared Gillett