Unwanted Coffee

Flying to a business meeting one night I was tired and on my second leg. To keep myself productive and awake, I grabbed my favorite cup of joe, a caramel macchiato with extra caramel and whip cream on top. It’s a sugar coffee’s dream mix and a far cry from the bitter taste of a straight up black cup. It did it’s job, ½ way through the flight I was busy flipping virtual pages in my ipad reading my latest book.

In typical fashion the steward came by and asked if I wanted anything. Engrossed in my book and my headphones I waved him off, or so I thought! To my surprise he turned back to me a short time later and handed me a small, stout cup of coffee. I was unsure but took the drink anyway.

See I had failed to pull those silly white plugs from my ears to hear what he was saying. I thought he asked me if I “wanted anything to drink?” Instead I realized he asked if I “wanted coffee to drink?” My closed off nature of being engaged only in my world created a mis-communication in the middle of what I was convinced was clear communication.

So now I sit, plenty full of coffee and another one waiting for me to down it. I was very happy with my blonde type coffee caramel and all the sweet taste it offered, not to mention I was already high on caffeine. What do I do with this cup? Well one option was to just let it sit there, but that would be awkward when the steward comes back. Another would be just ask him to throw it away, but I was too prideful to do that. The final option, drink er down! And that’s what I did. Instead of desiring and enjoying, I just downed it to get the fluid out of the way so it did not accidently spill on my lap.

It was bitter, bold and full of my miss-communication. After 4 gulps I finished her off and proudly handed the steward my empty cup(s) when he came by. Then it hit me, I wonder how many times I have done this in my life to people. How many times I have been so engrossed in my life that I misfired in a routine conversation and as a result had to drink an unwanted cup of bitter relationship.

I noticed that I sure did not enjoy it. I noticed that I had only one thing on my mind, ME! I noticed that I failed to be human. I failed to be relational. All because I was too lazy and to confident that I understood what was going on but never took the time to pull one ear bud out to determine that I really did not.

How often have you drunk a bitter, bold cup of unwanted coffee?