I love visiting my grandmother, she always has great stories to share with me. One of my favorites is when she was on a cruise on the Caribbean Sea and the ship ran out of coffee. It is quite a story, so when I came to her house to visit her, I asked her to retell it to me. The cruise story again?, Grandma asked giggling and I said yes, she nodded, starting the great story.
"In my youth, I had the opportunity to attend a cruise on the beautiful Caribbean Sea. The cruise was very large, it had supermarkets, discos, swimming pools, restaurants, stores and lots of things to enjoy, it also stopped in several coasts where we were taken to make tours, all very special, an opportunity that at the time I was very grateful and I still am, because traveling on a cruise is something that not everyone can afford.
However, something very strange happened on that cruise, something unexpected. I still remember the day as if it was yesterday, how could I not remember it?, it was so crazy. Everything was quiet, it was in the afternoon and all the passengers were minding their own business. I was in the small cafeteria inside the supermarket enjoying a dessert, when a woman shouted in a tone of voice that denoted desperation the following sentence: "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU DON'T HAVE ANY MORE COFFE?", everyone turned around when they heard those words. I looked at the faces of several of the passengers, many of them had their eyes wide open like saucers.
The cruise ship had run out of coffee completely and now it was no longer a secret thanks to that woman's resounding scream. I like coffee, but I can live without it, so my reaction was to continue enjoying my dessert, I didn't give it much importance, but for the other people to know that there was no more coffee on the ship, it was as if they had been told that the world was going to end at that very moment.
Many upset passengers began to yell at the workers of the small cafeteria that, "how was it possible that they had run out of coffee?, that many people needed it to start their day and to control their anxiety". The poor workers looked scared, everything was getting out of control, the word was spreading all over the cruise ship and now the passengers were gathered to discuss the situation and do something about it. I was just standing there watching everything.
Many things were said in that disastrous moment, but the final conclusion left me perplexed, they had all agreed to join together to carry out a riot. "A riot?", I remember thinking, "that's crazy, isn't that when people rebel against something, isn't that a pirate thing?, isn't that a bit extreme?", were the things that were going through my mind. I mean, I understand the annoyance, but to go all out and threaten the captain over coffee seemed crazy to me, especially since I doubt it's his fault and we were in the middle of the sea, at the moment there was nothing that could be done.
Logical reasoning seemed to have gone overboard, everyone joined in and angrily headed for the captain's room, who was handling the ship peacefully. The poor captain, seeing that bunch of people gathered together looking at him angrily, could not help but hide his surprise and disconcert, it was noticeable that he did not understand what could be happening. "CAPTAIN, HOW IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THE COFFEE IS OUT?, WHAT KIND OF INEFFICIENCY IS THIS?, YOU ARE THE CAPTAIN, DO SOMETHING", shouted the woman who had created such a mess, I don't remember her name, but let's call her Karen.
Karen kept shouting things and people followed her lead. Many times it happens that when human beings see crowds of other people they feel the need to unite, that had a name in psychology, anyway, I forget, but everyone was playing along with Karen. The captain wanted to talk, but they didn't let him, he was being very calm, I would have put them in their place quickly, but all patience has a limit and sooner than later the captain shouted "SILENCE" and effectively everyone became silent.
The exasperated captain began to speak, "Was it necessary to make all this fuss?, you couldn't just have simply informed me that the coffee had run out so I could send a message to the nearest coast and receive a load of coffee?, it was too difficult?, my God, people never cease to amaze me". I laughed, everything that the captain said was so logical and he said it so gracefully that I could not help but laugh, I was the only one laughing while everyone else looked at each other's faces in silence, obviously embarrassed.
Order was restored and upon reaching the nearest shore, large sacks of coffee were bought by the cruise staff and loaded onto the ship. The people were left in a state of infinite embarrassment because they were excessively calm. Meanwhile, I was still laughing and knew that I would never forget this experience."
My grandmother had finished her story and I could only thank her, "Thank you grandmother!, I will never get tired of hearing that story, like the captain, people often never cease to amaze me and the way you tell it is so funny that it gives me great joy to listen to you". My grandmother upon hearing my words proceeded to hug me and together we enjoyed a delicious coffee with milk accompanied by cookies.
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