No Coffee?!?

Yesterday was a day of traveling to St. Louis to call on a potential new account, then fly to Tampa and call on an existing account, then home. Usually on my travels I try to book enough time for delays, getting lost, last minute emergencies. Yesterday was no exception. However, it was one of those days that a friend of mine calls "good karma travel days" It all went without a hitch.

So I am at the St. Louis airport with an hour to kill and decided a nice Starbucks and a bagel would be nice. So I went to the Great American Bagel Co. and bought a sesame bagel, and with a certain amount of tolerant arrogance, told the young lady that, "no, I do not need a coffee." Particularly your coffee (I'm sure my demeanor conveyed my disdain) Then I marched down the terminal to the Starbucks and was very delighted to realize there was not a line. I stepped up to the counter and said, "Tall, Pike's leave a little room for creamer." Foreign accent..Pakistani maybe.."No Coffee" What? No coffee at a Starbucks? "What do you mean, no coffee?" "No coffee, machine broken. Something else?"
How can there be no coffee? That is like American Airlines saying, "We aren't flying today, no planes" I was speechless. I'm standing there with my contraband bagel and no coffee. So I mumbled my, "No thanks" and sat down in their little eating area bummed by the turn of events.

Now what? No Starbucks. I considered going back to Great American Bagel Co., hat in hand admitting that, yes, I changed my mind and would like a coffee. But my pride which is like a little tiny devil on my shoulder wouldn't let me. I choked down my bagel dry, went to the men's room to make sure I didn't have any sesame seeds stuck in my teeth, and went to my appointment.

I am still puzzled how a Starbucks could not have coffee. It impacted my entire day. Analogies keep popping into my head..Taco Bueno without tacos...Burger King with no burgers..Discount Tire with no tires...This may be one of the signs of the end times. And I have to face it without caffeine. Oh the tragedies, oh the humanity!

I'm better now, just had my coffee for the morning.

Godspeed out there, this journey is at times dangerous.
Don