Home » Short Stories » Wake Up And Smell The Keurig K-Cups

Wake Up and Smell the Keurig K-Cups

My wife bought us our first Keurig Brewing System about 4 years ago. We had just come back from vacationing at the King and Prince Beach Resort on St. Simons Island, GA. There was a single serve Keurig in our cabana oceanfront room that made such a great cup of coffee (Newman’s Own Organic Special Blend) it simply turned me against our conventional coffee maker at home. I just had to have the Keurig, and so I made that a priority after returning from vacation. Even so, true to my analytical nature I started researching the difference between the Keurig K-Cup system and the Tassimo T-Disc system. I consumed every bit of information I could find on both systems and eventually reached the point where I was hopelessly stuck and couldn’t make up my mind which system to purchase. Since my wife is the consummate problem solver in our marriage, she simply came home one day with a new Keurig since, as she put it, `you said that’s the one you wanted to begin with.’ Problem solved.

Besides, my wife doesn’t even drink coffee. She doesn’t like coffee.

Well, the Keurig was great. I recreated the great cup of coffee as I remembered from The King and Prince with Newman’s Own Organic Special Blend. The Keurig also came with a 36-count box of different K-Cups varieties. Some I liked and some I didn’t, which was all good because then I knew which ones to buy and which ones never to purchase again.

All went well for about a week, and then I got this nagging feeling that maybe I should have opted for the Tassimo. It’s not that I didn’t like the Keurig. I loved it, and still do. But it’s just that I had read such great articles comparing the 2 systems, some favoring the Keurig and others favoring the Tassimo, that I couldn’t help but wonder about what I may be missing. So I went on Amazon one day and ordered a Tassimo T-Disc system along with several different brands of espresso T-Discs. I rationalized the purchase this way: Most of the reviews said that Keurig made a great cup of coffee but Tassimo was better at making espresso.

Well, who doesn’t want an espresso every now and then? I didn’t tell my wife I had ordered it, though, because I wanted to surprise her. And surprise her I did, on the day she came home and saw both little soldiers standing at attention on her kitchen countertop–the Tassimo on the left and the Keurig next to it on the right. “What is this? You bought the other one, too? Did the Keurig break? Why would you do that? . . .”

I learned years ago in these types of situations that it’s better to wait until the questions stop. Eventually she just stood there in silence; but when her gaze went from the brewing systems to me I knew it was time to respond. “Well, you KNOW I couldn’t make up my mind which one to get. . . and you KNOW how much I like espressos and cappuccinos. . .and according to my research the Keurig doesn’t make those as well as the Tassimo, but the Keurig makes a better cup of coffee, and you know I drink coffee every day.” (…pause to catch my breath. . .)

“And I just thought, that as hard as both you and I work every day, it would be nice for us to have the option of an espresso every now and then. . .”

She immediately interrupted “US?!?” Realizing my error, I tried to recover. “Sweetheart, I know you don’t like coffee, but I know you like me, right? And I know you would feel good knowing I had the option of a good cup of coffee like we… I mean, like I had on OUR trip on the beach where WE had so much fun together and you loved me enough to buy me that Keurig that I wanted. Oh, and I love you so much. Give me a hug!” She stared at me for a beat and said “I need your help bringing in the groceries.”

No hug, but crisis averted. Score two for the coffee team!

Well, 16 months after the Keurig purchase I woke up and went into the kitchen for a good cup of coffee and my Keurig was dead. It wouldn’t turn on. It wouldn’t light up. I unplugged it and plugged it back in, but nothing. I know the outlet worked because the Tassimo was fine. I looked for a reset button but there was no reset button. As a last resort I expertly banged my hand against the side of it a few times because that’s what guys do as a last resort. Expertly. But it was still dead.

That was the BAD part. It was dead. The SAD part was that we had bought it 16 months ago. You guessed it, the warranty was only 12 months. My wife genuinely felt sorry for me. “I’ll go out and buy you another Keurig today.” What a woman! She knows how much I love coffee. But I assured her there was no rush, since “We had the foresight to purchase the Tassimo when we did, and it still works.” (Notice my brilliant use of the word “we” in that sentence!) I then proceeded to make a cappuccino. La vita è bella!

After a week without the Keurig I found myself jonesing for some K-Cup coffee. I called Keurig and related my sad story, asking them what options I had. Keurig replied that even though I was out of warranty, they would give me $100 credit towards a new version of the same Keurig Brewing System that I had. I took the deal and 7 days later I was making me some of that good K-Cup coffee again.

Is there a life lesson in this experience? (I know, I know, just bear with me.)

When you find something that you like or even love, that’s a good thing. But even when you have something good, life can throw you a curve ball, put up a speed bump or even stop you in your tracks. That’s when it’s important to have good backup support.

Sometimes the bump in the road can be as insignificant as the breakdown of a coffee maker, and your good backup support is simply a responsive customer service department. Or life’s curve ball can be as major as the loss of a job, or the illness or death of a loved one. Regardless of what life throws at us, we all need to have good backup support. And we need to freely acknowledge and show appreciation for the support we receive.

No matter how skilled we are at what we do and no matter how successful we’ve been, we need to acknowledge and show appreciation for each and every person in our company and our industry who provides us support, day in and day out.

No matter how positive we are in our everyday outlook and how capable we’ve been in defining and achieving our personal, professional and spiritual goals, we need to acknowledge and show appreciation for our friends and family members—and sometimes even strangers—who have been there when we needed a shoulder to cry on, a listening ear or a push in the right direction.

We continue to receive support, and we need to be ready and willing to give support. Life is beautiful!

***

Comments

Please Login to post a comment

A comment has not been posted for this short story. Encourage a writer by being the first to comment.