The Coffee Pot

By: Bill Steinberg, Sunshine Gardens Resident

Smells, I think, have a large influence on each of our lives.  I know they do mine.  Some of my favorites are: the soft scent of tender perfume on loved one's neck.  A puppies breath, the odor of a new car and last but not least, that of coffee brewing early in the morning.

I always set up my brewer the night before so all I have in the am is to push that silver button.  My coffee maker has one of those automatic dealies to turn itself on, but I've never been able to get it to work, so I just press the button.

It was Christmas morning and I was home alone.  Dixie had been called away due to her mother's illness and besides it wasn't the first time in my 70-some odd years that I'd spent that day alone.  I awoke early looking forward to one of those special aromas "coffee."  I pushed that silver button and absolute  tely nothing happened.  I mean "nothing!"  Okay, what had I done wrong?  I started my "investigation" and couldn't find the source of the problem.  IT as beginning to look as though, that first cup of coffee and the smell that goes with it were Christmas gifts I was not to have that day.  I even got so desperate I considered a cup of tea, but I'm just not a tea kinda guy.  Well, as they say, "desperate times call for desperate measures."  I called Wal-Mart.  After all, it was a holiday morning and I certainly wasn't expecting very much in the way of help.

A young lady answered the phone and listened courteously to my story before asking the inevitable question.  "Sir, do you have the sales slip?  Confessing that I didn't, I said to myself, "this is it, it's all over!"  Instead of the all to familiar, "their's no way we can help you at this time," she transferred me to a supervisor.  I was put on "hold" while she made the connection and it seemed that it took "forever."  I almost hung up at one point, but I stuck with it.  The "super" came on the line.  And I must explain that I wrote this story some years ago and have forgotten some of the details such as names, etc.  I was living in Cortes at the time and it was published in the Journal.  I called over there hoping it was still in their computer system, but they couldn't find it.  I'll just have to do the best I can from a shaky memory.

Well, when a supervisor finally came on the line, I could tell instantly she was from my home state of TEXAS.  Things were starting to look up although I realized there was only so much she could do.  She too listened intently to my story and when I finished she quietly said, "Mr. Steinberg, I'm going to have to think about this and get back to you.  Can you give me some time to work on it and I'll do what I can for you."

I waited and I waited and I waited, but nothing happened.  Over an hour went by and I was beginning to think my fellow Texan had let me down. 

Suddenly, there was a knock on my door.  It took me a few minutes to get there, as I had to transfer one chair to the other and pull my britches up.

When I finally got to the door, I was surprised to find a pleasant looking couple.  She introduced herself and her husband (their names are one of the things I have forgotten.)  "I'm from Wal-Mart, I believe we spoke on the phone.  we're here to rescue your coffee maker if we can and make your Christmas a little brighter.  Everybody should have a cup of coffee on Christmas morning."  I was stunned!  They got straight to work, but they couldn't get the darn thing to work, either.  The husband went out to their car and returned with a box plainly marked "Mr. Coffee."  It was becoming more and more unbelievable but it was happening.

They sent the new coffee maker all up and ran a pot of water through it to make sure it was working.  Then they brewed a pot of coffee and "Ah" that aroma!  The husband even solved a problem I was having with my chair with something as simple as one of our dogs' choker chains.

After we all had a "beautiful" cup of coffee together, they took their leave.  I thanked them profusely and it hardly seemed enough no matter how often or how much I did it!  I must wonder if those folks were sent by something more than just Wal-Mart.  After all, it was Christmas and they brought a very special "Coffee Pot."