The library district recently decided to open a hot beverage bar at each branch now that COVID-19 concerns are waning. We set up a table near our newspapers and magazines with a hot water dispenser, coffee machine, and basket full of assorted tea bags. We also have hot cocoa, cider mix, and snacks.
Unfortunately, all has not gone well.
I know, the image looks fairly tidy. It did not last. We failed to account for juvenile delinquents and the tragedy of the commons.
Originally, we did not offer a large container of Coffee Mate. No, we had nice little packets of creamer. We even had hazelnut-flavored creamer cups at first, but those were the first to vanish. Then the half-and-half cups. Then the powder packets. Now, after just one day, that canister was noticeably lighter despite a relatively light patron count.
The sugar also disappeared at an alarming pace. We had packets of brown sugar, sucralose, stevia, and raw cane sugar. Had. The packet basket started out organized and tidy. Cider and hot chocolate were consumed rapidly, and the tea was stirred around like a tempest adjacent to the teapot. Some of the empty sugar packets were also tossed in there for good measure despite the trash can directly underneath the table. Heathens!
But to cap it all off, after the snot-nosed brats mixed their oh-so-sophisticated sugar-and-creamer syrup with traces of coffee or tea, they threw away the mostly-full cups in our trash cans. One did so with enough force to splatter goo six feet up the wall right next to the computers. No books or electronics came to harm, but Miss A. had quite the cleanup job when she found it.
And that is why we can't have nice things. You might say this was grounds for cancelling the coffee bar. We'll see what happens.
