Coffee Talk: Week 3

Written by Hope Brakenhoff. Media by Momoka Murata.

Coffee has proven to be a common denominator between millions of people worldwide, but coffee isn’t for everyone. Even if you try every option possible at a coffee house, you still may not find a drink you enjoy. Not every person enjoys coffee, but that does not mean non-coffee drinkers can not appreciate and understand what coffee does for so many people.

That being said, there are also many benefits to not being a part of the coffee-obsessed population. From saving money to not being reliant on a cup of coffee in the morning, non-coffee drinkers live a fairly healthy and happy life without coffee. There is nothing wrong with a person who opts out of drinking coffee daily; sometimes coffee just isn’t the thing a person needs.

This is true for Maddi Walsh, a sophomore at Greenville University. She has never tried or even had the desire to try coffee. While some people think it is impossible to go through college without taking a sip from a mug filled with coffee, Walsh comments that there are many other choices which she finds preferable.

For Walsh, coffee is simply an unnecessary cost to her everyday life. It is something that she feels would empty her pockets considering the habit-forming qualities that coffee contains. Walsh says, “When you drink coffee every day, you get addicted and become reliant on a cup of coffee to wake you up every morning, and that isn’t something I want to have to rely on.” She prefers to start her day off with a good breakfast and some water. For her, water is all she needs to help her have an energy-filled day.

While Walsh does not want to rely on coffee herself, she also understands that there are many benefits to drinking it. Coffee can help certain individuals wake up in the morning and help them to be alert and focused during the day. Sometimes this is an actual effect of the caffeine, but other times it is just a mental effect in which individuals simply believe they have become energized as a result of the warm beverage. Many individuals unknowingly use this excuse to pour themselves another cup in the morning. This is when individuals start to view the drink as a need rather than a want. Today, there are many people that drink coffee every morning even if they don’t need it to wake them up. Some people just enjoy the taste and the satisfaction it brings them to rely on something outside of themselves.

There is no right or wrong answer as to whether or not people should drink coffee. There are pros and cons to both sides, making either acceptable. While Walsh does not drink coffee herself, she still enjoys spending time in Jo’s Java, because she loves the atmosphere and hanging out with her friends there.

This is truly a beautiful thing about coffee — that even if you don’t drink it, you can still hang out at the places that sell it and with friends that enjoy it. The atmosphere of coffee dates is certainly enticing, even to non-coffee drinkers.