Extra caffeine, please.

"She only drinks coffee at midnight
When the moment is not right
Her timing is quite
Unusual
-Train, Meet Virginia

I love coffee. Looooooooove coffee. I drink coffee at almost every opportunity that arises. I drink coffee in the morning, of course. And sometimes I drink coffee at night because we're at the diner or Starbucks. I drink coffee at night and then complain when I can't sleep. But it doesn't matter. It's worth it.

I like coffee because it's warm. I like the bitterness staved off with skim milk and two packets of fake sugar. I like coffee in the winter and I like coffee in the summer.

I like to drink coffee when everything is going wrong. For example, my chemistry research is a mess. I often have afternoons where absolutely nothing goes right: my gels won't polymerize, one sample contaminates the others, I can't get a current to run through the damn gel once it's set to go. When this happens, I figuratively throw up my hands and run downstairs to the lunch trucks for a cup of coffee. Usually hazelnut, as it were.

And then there was yesterday. I did possibly the dumbest thing ever. I locked my keys in my car. Ok, it happens. But oh, it gets worse. I locked my keys in my car. With the car still running. It takes a true genius to do something like that. The situation ended up not being such a big deal, but of course I ended up hyperventilating and whatnot until it was resolved. Once I was driving away, my knees feeling shaky and my stomach feeling fluttery as I came down from the adrenaline rush, I thought to myself: I could use a good cup of coffee right about now.

Last summer, when they were trying to get me to stop being anorexic, they said I had to stop drinking so much coffee. This was actually part of my treatment plan. If I would just cut down my coffee consumption to one cup a day, I'd be much better. Nevermind dealing with the abusive ex. Nevermind the fact that I wouldn't eat more scrambled eggs and cottage cheese. The problem was the coffee. I have dealt with my issues now, and I eat lots of things, but I drink more coffee than ever. I happen to think it's beneficial to my mental health.