SOME THINGS CAN’T BE SALVAGED

We were on the last leg of our long drive home.

Tired.

The Captain stopped for fuel. I ran into the store for coffee.

Dark roast, hot and strong was what I needed.

Next, creamer. Hmm. I didn’t want liquid. I’d cool down my coffee.

Ah. Canisters lined up. The first one said –

SUGAR.

Skipped that. Picked up the next one. This would be powdered creamer.

Sprinkled a liberal amount. Stirred. Picked up and sipped.

GAH!

I’d just dumped a load of artificial sweetener into my coffee.

In my defense, I’ve never encountered sweetener in canisters before. Sweetener comes in tiny rectangular sachets. Blue ones, pink ones, yellow ones.

What to do?

I poured half of the coffee into a second cup. Filled Cup #1 with more coffee.

Stirred.

Still too sweet.

Found the “real” powdered creamer. Dumped it in and tasted.

Another “gah!”

Poured most of it into the trash. Filled up with fresh coffee.

AT THIS POINT I SHOULD’VE TRASHED THE ENTIRE THING. BUT NO, I WAS STILL TRYING TO SALVAGE SOMETHING.

More creamer.

Stir.

Taste.

Acutely aware of the Captain frothing at the mouth outside, I decided it’s good enough. I looked around for a cover.

None to be found. Frantic scrabbling on the shelf.

Nothing.

Back to the cashier.

She’d forgotten and had to go to the back to get lids.

Finally, I headed outside with our coffee.

“I could’ve had lunch by now,” was my greeting. “How can you take so long to get coffee?”

I knew better than to come back with a snarky reply. The man was tired. It had been a rough week. Cleaning out our boat. The emotional toll of saying goodbye to said boat. Driving.

Instead I spun a yarn around my coffee efforts.

I was rewarded with a smile.

The coffee saga did not end well.

We both took a sip, And another. Hesitantly a third.

The sweetener had done its job.

Too well.

THERE WAS NO FIXING THIS ONE!

It’s the same in my life, I guess. There are habits I should trash.

I can’t modify them.

I can’t “dress” them up.

Gossip is still gossip. Even if prefaced with a smile and “she’s really nice but…”

Cussing is still cussing even if modified to sound like something else.

The cookies I sneak when no-one sees still violates the limit I set myself on junk food.

I HAVE TO GET RID OF THOSE HABITS.

SOME THINGS CAN’T BE FIXED.

Photo by Tirachard Kumtanom from Pexels