That’s a little extreme, I think, especially in a small place like Rosebud, Arkansas.
We were taking a bit of a drive on my first official day of retirement and after Karen’s doctor appointment in Little Rock. We had never been in the Heber Springs, Greers Ferry, Fairfield Bay part of the state and I thought we could drive back home with a little bit of a side trip through some of that area.
We had gotten gas just before we ventured off into new territory and I had wanted to get a cup of coffee. Karen had gone in to use the restroom and get my coffee. She came back out without the coffee and without any good words about the state of the restroom and the thick dregs of what was left in the coffee pot.
I figured there would be a place that had coffee in Rosebud.
A while later, as we were getting into Rosebud, I recalled that it had been pretty well flattened by a tornado back in the 80’s. The only reason I particularly remember that is because one of the shift supervisors at work was from Rosebud.
The convenience store/cafe/gas station that I stopped at for gas had certainly been built since the tornado.
One of the things that I’ve noticed since I’ve been off from work is that change tends to accumulate in my pocket, where before it didn’t. I guess I tend to use bills to pay for things in stores, rather than use the change. Now that I’m not around vending machines any more, the change doesn’t get spent so quickly.
After I had filled my coffee cup, I remembered the change and figured that I’d use it for the coffee.
Now, for a long time, I paid 10¢ or so for coffee at the store I usually stop at. Then it went up to 25¢ and I paid that for a long time. Recently, it’s gone up to 46¢. I’ve paid more that that, but hardly ever over a dollar, so I was sure that I had enough change for a cup of coffee.
I was very surprised when she said the coffee was $1.20! However, I dug a little deeper and – since I’m not around the vending machines much any more – I had more than enough change to cover it.
But, a dollar and twenty cents for a cup of coffee in Rosebud, Arkansas?!
If I lived near there, I would make sure not to stop at that store again.
And the coffee wasn’t even that good!
