253. Dunkies

The best cup of coffee I ever had was probably from Dunkin Donuts. I don’t remember a specific cup of coffee, but their coffee in general just gets me. It’s simple, it’s cheap, and at its core, it doesn’t pretend to be anything fancy. It is just there to get you caffeinated.

My favorite memory of Dunkin Donuts was during the week of the Boston Marathon. On that Friday, when the whole town was locked down, pretty much the only thing open in the whole Boston area was Dunkin Donuts. (There may have been other places of business open, but the news made a big deal about Dunkin Donuts being open.) I LOVED that. I’m guessing it was open because some poor schmuck didn’t get the message that the city would be under lockdown.

At the first place I lived in Boston, there was a Starbucks and a Dunkin Donuts on opposite sides of the street. It seemed like the college kids and the white collar professionals of Brookline would always be in Starbucks, but the cops and the T workers would always be in Dunkin Donuts. While I am decidedly not blue collar, I like to think of myself as a down to earth person who appreciates the simple things.

One time, after a particularly hard day at grad school, and with assignments to do in the evening, I decided that I needed some coffee in the evening to keep my going. I went to a coffee shop around campus. (It was neither a Starbucks or a Dunkin Donuts.) I decided that I was going to get something special. I really only have a vague idea of the differences between different styles of coffee. I chose something off the menu. The barista told me that it comes “Italian style.” I had no idea what that meant, but I went with it.  A few minutes later, a paper cup the size of about two shot glasses filled with a thick black liquid came out. I was so pissed.

I walked out into the cold fall night with that cup feeling like an idiot. I didn’t even want to drink it. I think I took two sips before throwing it out. It just wasn’t working for me. All I wanted was a cup of coffee to sip on while I worked on some homework, but that wasn’t going to work. I know you’re supposed to sip on small cups of coffee, but I had no desire to look that stupid while I sipped on coffee.

I probably drink too much coffee as it is right now. I do miss the Dunkin Donuts. I think I like it because it just feels unpretentious. I don’t drink it for the logo. I don’t drink it because it makes fancy drinks. It just makes decent coffee, and it’s never let me down. I hope they get some in Minnesota soon.  

Now I’m really hungry. I also love Dunkin Donuts donuts as well. I could probably write a few more paragraphs on that, but that’s for another blog post.