Wednesday, September 17, 2008

30 Days of Nothing: A Crisis of Major Proportions

I've got plenty of coffee. A friend and I ordered coffee from a farm cooperative thingy this summer (what are they called?) and every other week had a pound of coffee delivered practically to our homes. I'm the only one who drinks it, except for one cup by Mr. GT on the weekend, so a pound every other week lasts me just fine. In fact this should last me through December, probably.

I'm stretching the half bottle of creamer my mom bought. There's still a cup or two in there. My turbinado sugar is holding out and I'm willing to use regular sugar if I have to. I'm resigned to skim milk.

The filters are getting low. I haven't counted them, but I think it will be close. Worst case scenario, I can make a big pot every other day and reheat in between.

I've got it all covered. The 30 Days of Nothing should not impact my coffee consumption by much.






I broke my coffee pot today.

I was rinsing it out and my wrist got all wild and I smacked the bottom of the pot against the separator between the two sinks.

And then I poked a hole in my finger cleaning up the shards.

The kids weren't interested in having me sign anything in blood for them.

I refuse, even though I could, to buy a new coffee pot during this month! In the face of all of the suffering of the world, my coffee pot is broken.

I'm not trying to be all holy or righteous or anything. I just recognize the stupidity of this. Poor me, American suburban mom, can't make coffee for the next (I'm counting) 13 days. I refuse, on principle, to break with the spirit of the 30 Days of Nothing by running to Target for a new coffee pot.

Even though I could.

Lots of people couldn't.

I have a young friend who is pregnant. She doesn't have a car and her boyfriend doesn't have a license. She has to bum a ride to get her prenatal care 20 miles away. What a pain! But she's doing it.

I have a friend with a homeless son. He has a job and a car. But it's not enough to cover rent. Their grandson is living with them so he can attend school regularly. He doesn't like it. He wants to be back at his old school with his old friends.

I have a friend who is homeless. She has four kids and a job. She was supposed to move into a new rental and so she let the old one go. The new one fell through. The kids are living with their dad so they get to school regularly. I'm not sure where she stays.

I have a young friend who couldn't live with her parents. Bad news. Her grandma took her in and that worked out fine until the grandma got too sick. Now she had nowhere to go, so her ex-boyfriend offered to let her stay with him and his mom. Only he had a condition for her living there. She is only 17. She was left with no alternative but to move in with her unstable dad 100 miles away. She would have been a senior this year. She would have graduated. She was one of the sweetest and most hard working kids I know. I don't know how she's doing now.

My coffee pot is broken. That sucks.

As Pepper informed me this morning, I'm "going to have a COURAGEOUS headache!"

Blessings,
Sandwich

3 comments:

letterstoelijah said...

wow, you know how to put things into perspective. If you have any Excedrin migraine - take it now.. it has caffeine in it.

Recovering Noah said...

Oh, wow, Sandwich. Very thought provoking. Probably one of the best posts (of any blog) that I've ever read.

As the previous person said, thanks for putting things into perspective.

Leslie

NSG said...

This country is involved in two wars, is in the midst of a financial hemorrhage, and continues to function as if the oil wells will never run dry. Our leadership has not yet asked us to sacrifice anything. Your 30 days of nothing are interested to read about it, because it forces you to re-examine everything you do in your life. When you step back and take a look at what we we believe we need, it does seem ridiculous compared to what others are forced to contend with in their lives.