dear lover

dear jj bean.
it’s over. we’re done. well, at least as a full time thing. i have tried for a long time to develop a better sense of what makes you what you are and that the time it takes to get a coffee is worth it in the end. sure, i’ve cheated on you with café artigiano, soma and even bean around the world when in a real bind and unhappy about it, but, i’ve always come back home for dinner. i have stood at the counter of main street waiting as two machines fight it out trying to keep the pace but falling farther and farther behind until it takes 15 minutes to get a long espresso. i have stood next to the flowers at your location on Granville island almost 20 minutes to get a chain latte. and finally, on powell street, 15 minutes for a latte with no one waiting in front of me. that damn duncan.
sure, it’s only coffee but you’d think it was a secret science the way you keep it from me until it’s just so perfect, then finally releasing it to me. it’s like a trick is being played on me, and jj i don’t like tricks. i like coffee.
so, i have to say we’re breaking up. maybe, if i have an opening in my day where i don’t have to be anywhere for ½ and hour or more, i’ll drop by, say hello, grab a drink and not worry about the time it takes. but i will no longer sit through the time it takes to run shots three or four or five times just to get it perfect, when i need a coffee now. i can’t wait, i’m sorry. and i love you, but i just can’t anymore.
you’ve got others who will wait, so you don’t need me. sure, you may miss me for a minute but, in time, i’ll be forgotten like the last latte you forgot to make.
don’t be sad, i’m not. we’ll move on without each other, i’ll pass by and wave and you’ll keep making coffee one drink at a time, one shot at a time, one slow grind after another.
take care. i’ll miss you. but in the end, it’s best for both of us.

g. xo