By Sophie Pappas
It was a gray morning in 2013. My curtains, a mix of beige and stone found on the Target clearance racks, only intensified the misting clouds outside my Main Street windows. 7 a.m. had never felt so dreary.
The baby had been awake all night (in my bed of course) and my husband was already asleep on the couch. There’s no room for three in a full size bed.
He was tired from bussing tables for tips, and I was exhausted from making those tips stretch. I nursed through the days and the nights, and paid the bills with what I could.
Waking my dampened spirit this morning, I crawled out of bed and slipped into my UGGs. It was Sunday morning, and in my mind Sunday morning meant donuts — because everyone knows donuts mean happiness.
I was determined we have happiness for breakfast; never mind the fact that I only had $2.25 in my wallet (and even less in my bank account). At 75 cents-a-piece, I could justify one donut per person.
I kissed my husband on the cheek as I walked out the door and crossed the barren brick street toward Le Dolce Vita bakery.
After choosing two Boston creams, the cashier informed me that her register was broken. I could have my donuts for free, since she couldn’t print the receipt. I walked out with $2.25 still nestled in my coat pocket.
It was then that I remembered a new coffee shop had opened nearby, and lucky for me – I still had $2.25. I trudged over to Darrin’s Coffee Co., where a tall black man greeted me with a friendly smile and two cups of free coffee, because, he said, he wanted me to tell the whole town about how good his coffee was.
And so, I walked back up the stairs to my newborn baby and sleeping husband, with two free donuts and two free cups of coffee. I still had $2.25, which meant that just maybe, I could have donuts again next Sunday.
***
Current in Zionsville has tremendous respect for small business owners. On page three, I reported that the owner of Darrin’s Coffee Co. was arrested for previous transgressions. I hope that we, as a town, can forgive him for this and continue to support him and his coffee-roasting venture.
Journalism can never be silent: that is its greatest virtue and its greatest fault. – Henry Anatole Grunwald
