Dunkin' Karma

Everyday work life fell into a tidy routine. Out at just the right time to be ahead of the school buses crisscrossing town; out at just the right time to be ahead of the long coffee lines; out at just the right time to enjoy a half hour of quiet in my office before the whole office erupted in the daily hum of activity. It was all so perfect—even down to Dee, seeing me pull into the Dunkin’ Donuts parking lot, having my coffee waiting on the counter. Then, I did the unthinkable and changed the routine.

One morning I passed by an unusual early morning crowd at Dunkin’ and opted for Panera—just this once, I said under the pressure of having to finish preparing for a nine o’clock meeting. Walking in, I noticed the calm of the moment—a young man locking his bicycle before ambling in for his coffee; two elderly women deep in conversation; a gentleman of a certain age with The New York Times opened in front of him. These people impressed me—they all were doing their “morning thing” but it all looked so relaxed. I was hooked. Panera was close enough to work that I could spend a half hour there, sipping my morning brew and reading! I was going to make a great trade—a half hour of work preparation for a half hour of reading and coffee.

Then, to make the trade seem even better, my Kindle arrived from Amazon. No longer would I be slave to a tote bag with four or five different books. (You never knew what would strike your fancy as you sat down to enjoy your half hour gift!) Now, I had book choices at the ready in a lightweight, ready-to-go format. Even if I didn’t like my current book choices, I could always add another—right on the spot through the wonders of Kindle WiFi. Oh, mornings couldn’t get any better than this.

What’s that? We’re closing the corporate office? My commute will now be a telecommute? But wait—I have this new morning routine, and it’s really neat.

Well, I now have an even neater morning routine—totally relaxed, don’t even have to put on make-up. I bunny slipper to the kitchen, grab a coffee from the Keurig machine, and head to my newly created home office. Oh, and my Kindle? A lifesaver when it came to clearing out the spare-room-now-an-office of the accumulated piles of books—read and unread. Available on Kindle? Goes in donation pile. Amazing the space that a 10 ounce, 7x5” device can create.

I’m waiting now for the ceiling fan to be installed in my office. When my son comes to do the job, maybe we’ll celebrate with a Dunkin’ Donuts coffee!