He was trying to do something nice for the office, but nobody respected his espresso machine.
Coffee lovers gag at the thought of the cardboard-flavored swill they serve up in the company break room. Ancient drip coffee machines that have never been cleaned leave a strangely haunting aftertaste in their mouths, like the taste of overworked fatigue and workplace desperation. In a pinch, some cafe aficionados may pour themselves a cup of Joe, but even the over-poured coffee creamer and sugar won’t cover up the flavor of disappointment.
That explains why this guy offered to bring his own coffee maker into the workplace.
He had spent years at his desk dreaming of the creamy espresso, the frothy milk, and the perfect cup of coffee he could make from the comfort of his own kitchen, and a lightbulb went off in his head one day when lamenting with his colleagues: Why not bring my machine into work? There’s no reason this man couldn’t enjoy a good cup of coffee from his office chair, yet when he raved and cooed about the joys of his machine, his coworkers insisted he share the good word with them, too.
At first, things were hunky-dory, but soon the office entitlement took over, and this refreshing amenity was being treated more negligently than the 15-year-old Mr. Coffee in the break room.
It was never refilled, it was never wiped down, and most importantly, the office never brought their own coffee pods. At $1 a piece and in this economy, 12 coffees a day made this man’s wallet ache more than his heart. A true coffee lover would never stand to watch their machine be treated with such distaste, and just because he had made a kind gesture to the workplace, it didn’t mean he had to uphold it beyond its expiration.
Nothing would stand in the way of a coffee lover and his good cup of the day, but he certainly wouldn’t be extending the benefit to his ambivalent coworkers any longer. They proved where they stood when they raided his desk’s private stash of coffee pods…



