If You're Old Enough to Drink It ...

Do you drink coffee while you're dwelling at your Castle of Cubes? Nice hot cup to get your day started? Maybe you have a routine ... log on the network, rinse your mug? Grab a muffin from the vending machine or do you bring one in with you? Well listen up fellow Cube Jockeys -- unless there is a designated coffee maker on staff, if you drink coffee, you need to learn how to make it!

I know we're all busy ... reading/writing emails, putting out fires, handling customers/clients, answering phones, running reports -- doing what we do. Seriously, are we so busy that we can't take 30 seconds to push the "start" button when we empty the coffee pot?

Most offices have some kind of coffee station or a community coffee pot. If we're really lucky, the company will spring for a vending company to supply us with free coffee to keep us fueled throughout the day. Lord knows it's not the work that's going to keep us stimulated and energized throughout the day -- but I digress. What is it about some of us that keeps us from dropping a filter in the basket and pushing start? You know who you are or who your resident Cube Jockeys are that will empty the pot and walk away. Is it laziness? Rudeness? Some passive aggressive attempt to exert your perceived self-importance? Or is it you truly don't know how to make it? Whatever it is you need to stop.

We're locked in the Castle of Cubes for at least eight hours a day; four of those hours are spent drinking coffee (we tend to stop after lunch). The least we can do is exercise some common courtesy with each other. It's simple -- if you empty the pot (and less than a 1/4 cup left constitutes emptying so don't try that "it's not empty" crap to excuse yourself), you need to take 30 seconds to start another one. If you truly don't know how, then ask someone. You'll be surprised at how easy it is. Plus, you'll feel better knowing you did something that won't get put in your performance review but will keep you from being known as the resident jerk.

If you're old enough to drink it, you're old enough to make it.