Better than cheap coffee is coffee that’s free. Both cases can end up blowing up in my face, since people often say that cheap things usually turn out more expensive.
However, maybe this time I’ll come out ahead—or rather, I already did. It’s been many days since I last went to a coffee shop to have even just an espresso. Time is most often the decisive factor, but my pockets have also played a key role.
I haven’t even taken one of the coffee packages I sell for myself. Every bit of money that comes in goes straight to food. So, buying coffee from the little street stands scattered across the city has been one of my escape valves.
Most of the time, I’ve had it from the ones closest to my workplace. They serve as fuel to start the day and carry me through the workload until the shift ends.
Also at work, especially when we’re on call, my colleagues brew coffee up to three times in a single shift. That’s when I take advantage to satisfy even more of the deficit that hits me from having so little money. It’s easier to buy a package by pooling money together. Besides, conversations and gossip accompanied by a cup of coffee are much more fun and also make the shift go by faster.
It’s cheap coffee and sometimes free coffee. But almost always the taste matches—or can even be better than—what we get when we visit a coffee shop. Of course, the atmosphere isn’t the same, and that’s an important difference. But in terms of simply delighting our tongues with the bitter sweetness of coffee, it works.
After thinking it over carefully, I realize that with this method, I’ve had more coffee in these past weeks than when I have a little more solvency. Don’t worry. I’ll soon be back at the coffee shops.
English isn't my native language. Text translated with DeepL