Supply and demand

My job asked me for a favor the other day.  They asked me to work a breakfast shift, which is something I don't ordinarily do.  Getting up at 5:30 in the morning isn't really my thing.  Yeah sure, I'm awake at 5:30 in the morning every now and then.  But it's usually because I haven't gone to sleep yet.

There was some big convention in town, they had eighty-something people coming in for a breakfast buffet and needed some extra hands.  I really like my job, I really like the people I work with, I really like my owners, and I really like my managers.  So, I really couldn't say no.

Of course I was running on about four hours of sleep, because my bartender brain refuses to shut itself off and go to sleep any earlier than one or two in the morning.  I really wanted a cappuccino.  Like, the minute I woke up.  I was so bleary-eyed I wasn't sure if I'd be able to keep my bicycle upright.  No problem, I thought.  I'll stop and get one on the way in.

As I pedaled from the Bywater to the CBD, I passed many, many bars that were open.  Many bars that had never even closed.  Checkpoint Charlie's.  The Abbey.  Aunt Tiki's.  Three Legged Dog.  That bar I used to work at that has a new name that I can never remember.  I could go on, but you get the point.

I also passed more than a few coffee shops.  PJ's.  Closed.  Community.  Closed.  The Orange Couch.  Closed.  Rose Nicaud.  Closed. Cafe Envie.  Closed.  Even Starbucks.  Closed.

So let me get this straight.  I can get a Maker's Mark with a beer back on my way to work at six-thirty in the morning, but I can't get a fucking cappuccino?

I know what you're going to say. "Why didn't you just go to Cafe du Monde?  They're open 24 hours, they're right on the way.  You should have just stopped there."

But I didn't want a cafe au lait.  I wanted a fucking cappuccino, and Cafe du Monde doesn't sell cappuccino.  They only sell cafe au lait.  I'm very particular about what I want, particularly when I've only had four hours of sleep.  I really wanted a cappuccino.  Nothing else would do.

But I was shit out of fucking luck.  No cappuccino for me.  At first I was annoyed.  Then I had to laugh. I mean really, was I surprised?  Guess I had just forgotten where I was for a minute there, and the simple business concept of supply and demand.  Not a huge demand for fancy coffee that early around here, it seems.

But Bloody Marys and bourbon?  Oh yeah, baby.  Make mine a double...