Sailors have a well-deserved reputation as coffee drinkers who will swill
down anything resembling coffee, from battery acid to (obligatory) 948cc
engine sludge. It was during my stint in the Navy that I began to guzzle it
with sheer abandon, at times downing 20 to 25 cups a day, something I
carried over to civvie street.
For a time, I was in the admiral's coffee mess. In the Navy, a coffee mess
is any group that bands together to chip in the money to keep a pot of
coffee brewing at all times. There were about 35 of us in the admiral's
coffee mess, and a buck a month kept the coffee flowing. Being in the
admiral's mess had an important added advantage: new arrivals from boot
camp were assigned to the office for a three-month period to make the
coffee, run errands, and other flunky jobs. It may sound like a menial job,
but it was certainly better than the alternative to which a lot of newcomers
were assigned: mess cooking!
We once had a new kid who was bright and full of initiative. He had been
there about a week when he decided he was really going to make an impression
on people. And so, he decided to clean the coffee pot. It was one of those
big stainless steel coffee makers that held about three gallons or so. He
came in early one morning and started cleaning the well-seasoned pot. With
scouring cleanser!
Well, you can imagine what the next pot of coffee tasted like. And you can
also guess who came in early that day and had the first cup of coffee.
That's right, the admiral.
As I recall, the kid went mess cooking the same morning.
I've never really shaken my coffee habit. When I was in the newspaper
business, I was still downing 20-25 cups a day. I may not drink quite as
much now, but it is still what I must have to get the day started. Not
fine, gourmet coffees (which I don't particularly care for), but good,
strong, flavorful battery acid!!!!
Buster Evans
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