"Ritual de lo Habitual"

here I am in my underwear. I can hear my wife starting the shower, I've just begun the ritual, and I'm gathering my senses to come out of auto-pilot....theres a problem. Wake up. Someone has forgotten to buy milk, or creamer, or anything white for that matter. I can feel pillow marks on my face.

The first ounces of hot coffee are dripping into the pot, and the smell makes my blood race. My body needs caffeine, I need creamer.

I hate black coffee. You'd think I wouldnt hate it as much as I do...I mean it's almost there...almost. I buy good coffee too. I dont drive a fancy car or blow my money at the bar...life is just too short to waste it on bad coffee. That makes it twice as ironic that I have no minimum standard for creamer. I like Half n Half, I like Milk, Skim, Non-Dairy Powder....I have a theroy I like the taste of whiteness. That ANYTHING white will do. I think of things that are white. Titanium Dioxide is white. Zinc Oxide is white. Flour is white. Some of my socks are nearly white. Perhaps just a drop of paint?

I sometimes keep non dairy creamer as backup, but I've used that up too.

The back of my mind hands down the verdict. It was I who forgot to get the creamer, I'll have to drink my black coffee without giving anyone attitude. I'll probably have just one cup, and get the rest of my fix at work. Just enough so that I dont snap at anyone.

I stare at the two waiting mugs. Mine is black. I always drink out of my discontinued Pfalzkraft Black Hertitage Mugs. I spent a year buying them whenever they showed up on ebay, so now I have a many. They are flat black heavy stone. They hold the heat better and have anough mass to feel like a tool. My caffeine deliver machine. She insists on a white mug. I'm pretty sure I'm the crazy one.