By Katie Mahoney
It’s after the early morning rush at Caribou Coffee in the K-State Student Union and still a line of anxious customers linger across the black and white checkerboard tile.
The dimmed golden lamps provide an alluring composure to the chaotic atmosphere behind the counter. Stainless steel mixing cups clank together while the bitter syrupy smell of freshly poured coffee wafts through the air.
"I think it's kind of fun to get coffee,” said Bailey Buer, a Kapaun Mt. Caramel student in Manhattan for the Flint Hills Publications Workshop. “The whole feel of being in the coffee shop is just cool.”
Americans, in general, love coffee. Construction workers, teachers, business executives, soccer moms, even celebrities share a common craving. Coffee.
Barbara Tholen, advanced newspaper writing adviser and avid coffee drinker, describes coffee as, "the nectar of the gods."
“I need to have at least one cup of coffee in the morning,” Tholen says, “or it’s not pretty.”
Whether it's a cappuccino, frappuccino or espresso, sugary concoctions are custom created. Jimmy Langton, a Shawnee Mission South student, says his favorite is a caramel macchiato.
"It makes me smile and think about rainbows and pleasant things," Langton said.
In Caribou Coffee, impatient toe-tappers stand anxiously in line behind the “PicCup” counter. The grinding of ice and swirling of syrup are antagonizing.
Minutes seem to creep by from the caffeine depravation.
Finally. The cardboard cup is within reach.
“At first, it’s pure bliss,” gushed Skye LeSage, K-State junior. “Later when it kicks in you feel so alive.”
Katie Mahoney is a junior at Notre Dame de Sion and a student in the advanced writing class at the Flint Hills Publications Workshop.
good writing sis :)
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