coffee and potato chips

Well, it's finally happened: I've officially upgraded from a small-size coffee to a medium at Dunkin' Donuts. This is only a problem because I have a life-goal of not being addicted to anything, but this caffeine thing is really tripping me up. Usually I'm pretty good about it, especially given that I'm pretty sensitive to caffeine (half a Coke at dinner will keep me up all night), but this week has been rather ornery. The last time I got this bad with coffee was during 4th quarter Medill hell, of which I only remember bits and pieces.

The main culprit for the coffee cup upgrade is my next-door neighbor. I don't know what he does, but he's come home every night this week at 3 am. Because our building is like, pre-historic, the walls are quite thin and there is very little sound insulation, so I get startled awake when he comes in. And then he usually spends the next hour or so opening/closing drawers, running the water, and treading the floorboards, which must be connected with mine, b/c I can hear the creaking inside my apartment. Very spooky, given my fear of ghosts/demons/burglars/etc. Yesterday morning, he was whistling. Since then he's developed a cold, b/c this morning he blew his nose until about 4 am.

As you know, my commute is about 2 hours and change each way, slightly longer in the afternoons due to traffic. To get to work on time, I normally get up at 5:30 am, leave the house at 6 am. So when it was 4:15 am and I had no hope of falling back asleep, I was like "Eff this in the face, I'll just catch the 5:22 am bus." So I got up, turned on the news, restrained myself from slashing wrists, etc. I decided that, due to the sheer awfulness of the morning, I would treat myself to coffee and a hot sandwich at the Dunkin' Donuts.

I get to Davis St a little after 5 am, really kind of looking forward to burning my mouth on a turkey cheddar bacon flatbread sandwich. That's when I found out that the hot sandwiches at Dunkin' Donuts are delivered frozen and would not be ready to be heated up until at least 6 am.

What. The. Eff. Are you serious??? You're killing me here, DD!!

In a fit of depression, I bought a medium coffee and sat on a bench with the other poor, vagrant souls who board buses at ungodly hours. The early morning 208 bus driver is really cheerful and made jokes about shopping (the route takes it to 3 separate malls). The early morning 272 is super crammed. A woman fell asleep on my left arm, which really tested my boundary issues.

So if you see me today and I snap at you without provocation, know that I've been up since 3 am and was on a bus to work before Dunkin' Donuts was ready to make hot sandwiches. My apologies in advance.

And if, for whatever reason, you foolishly choose to provoke me today...God help you. May God help you.