Adventures in Coffee

Adventures 

In

Coffee

By 

Ari Silva

CHAPTER 1

That first sip of coffee is a special moment in time. Gary turned the key to the ignition of his Jeep Wrangler and sighed. He forgot his thermos. That’s a no-go. He still forced himself to laugh as he always made fun of his wife for forgetting things after locking the front door, but now he was the victim of his own ridicule. He took one more sip of the glory known as coffee and opened up the driver side door of his 4x4 to step out into the cool morning air of the city known as San Diego. He left the engine running, opened up the door, grabbed his giant thermos, and headed back out to the Jeep. Once back inside , he placed his thermos in its spot and took another slow sip from his spill-proof mug. He was going to finally learn how to surf. He had a bit of a ride from Mission Hills to Carlsbad, but it was 5:30 am, and would beat any traffic on this cool Saturday morning. 

He took the 163 North, and merged onto the 5. He listened to the Jocko podcast on his iPhone and sipped slowly out of his mug. As he finished his cup, he pulled over to an exit, poured more coffee and continued back on his way. His buddy Jimbo was finally gonna get to teach him how to surf after about 20 years of begging him to shake his fear of sharks. Gary was 45, in good shape, and refused to color his hair. He went gray early, but never allowed his locks to suffer from anything other than their natural state. He was a former roofer-turned-house flipper and had half of the day to play around. He was always busy, and this was a little gift to himself after his morning workout.

The sun was starting to rise now as he made his way into the “hidden” part of the beach where he and Jimbo would catch some decent waves. Gary pulled in, took a sip of coffee, and put on his wetsuit. It was tight! He had no surfboard or rack on his Jeep, but if this went well, that would be next. After a combative fight with the zipper, he finished putting on his suit, when his phone went off. It was a text message from Jimbo. 

Jimbo: “Sorry dude, my dog’s throwing up all over. We must’ve given her bad leftovers. Next week?” 

Gary: “No worries, I’m just a guy at the beach with no board in a wetsuit. You owe me a beer.”

Jimbo: “Done.” 

Gary sighed yet again. He went to drink more from his mug when he realized it was empty, as well as his thermos. A large frown appeared on his face as he went to zip off his wetsuit. The zipper wouldn’t budge. Gary turned and pulled and wrestled and bent, but to no avail. He was not gonna drive the roughly 45 minutes home without coffee. No sir. There was only one solution: stop at a coffee shop before it was busy, get a cup of coffee, and quickly leave before anyone would notice how odd he looked. He would need a good story as to why he was in a wetsuit. Maybe some nice person would help him take it off! No, it was too embarrassing. His wife was about to laugh harder than she had all day. 

Gary hopped in his Jeep, and found a small coffee shop close by on his phone. His heart was racing. He drove slowly so he didn’t get pulled over and have to explain to a laughing cop why he was driving around in a dry wetsuit. 

As he pulled into the parking lot of the small coffee place, he hopped out and opened the door. There was nobody inside save for the young employee who looked hungover. He kept a straight face and ordered a large cup of coffee. As he went to pay, he realized he forgot his wallet in his glovebox. No worries. As he retrieved it and reentered the store, the unbelievable happened: the sound of a large vehicle cascaded his ears--as a tour bus pulled up and out poured dozens of teenagers, all wearing some sort of team attire. His eyes widened in fear as he fumbled for his wallet, dropped it, picked it up quickly, with his left hand knocked over his coffee, and with his right hand, knocked over the tip jar. Klutz! The teenagers entered the store and started laughing at the older dude in a wetsuit and flip flops who was obviously a mess. Gary apologized profusely to the stunned employee, left her 20 for the coffee, and 20 for the tip. He avoided eye contact and tried to find a happy place in his head. 

As the laughter quieted from his door closing to the vehicle, Gary laughed out loud at himself again that morning. Could he have looked any more ridiculous? What a day. He chuckled again and brought the cup to his lips. Operation Wetsuit Retreat would now need assistance from his sleeping wife. She was a nurse who worked incredibly long hours. He’d better let her sleep. He put on his Jocko podcast and started home as the sun smiled upon San Diego’s incredible shores. He put on his sunglasses and grabbed his hot cup of Joe. That first sip of coffee is a special moment in time.