I Have Stories

In fact, they were dangerous..

These were the coffee cups we had to use everyday.

As new Student Nurses.. these were a new thing.

Unless you ate out at an old school diner.

I guess we were all pretty sheltered and drank coffee from a cup -sometimes a mug . Grandmothers made us use cup and saucers.

We were only 18. In those days, no Starbucks or Dunkin’.

We had instant coffee from a glass jar or a brewed coffee from a new thing called “Mr.Coffee” or an old school percolator.

The percolator was fun.. an aluminum coffee pot with a plastic handle and on top of the lid.. there was a glass ‘box’.

Not sure what it was actually called, but when the coffee was at a boil the bubbles where visible through the glass. ( It was brewing)

Well now that we were big girls at school – we went to the coffee shop or cafeteria and were confronted by these Solo Cups.

The cup was inserted into the holder and and molten fluid of choice ( water for tea) or coffee was poured in.

I swear the servers in hair nets hated us and filled these horrid things to the brim.

Handling them usually resulted in a painfully hot splash onto your hand or worse- an overflow when you attempted to stir milk/cream/sugar/ sweet n’ low in.

If you were lucky – no spillage from coffee shop counter onto your uniform ( Blue w tiny pinstripes) .

Bad enough everyone knew your rank as a rookie. The pristine white cap gave you away. It lacked a black velvet band. You had to earn that.. and believe me.. those who got one where warriors.

After awhile– the skin on our hands got rough due to all the handwashing and became immune to the pain of coffee.

These Solo Cup holders were so dainty..it became a source of fun to watch big “man hands” try to use them. They usually just gave up on the handle and held both sides of the holder like a Chinese tea mug.

These cups were safety hazards for more than burns.

The plastic cup itself.. probably gave off a lot of toxic chemicals, exposed to hot fluid like that.

Imagine the outrage if people had to use these today.

Now we are so soft they put a sleeve on our thick and sturdy, environmentally ‘safe’ cups.

These cups were everywhere. Even in the ‘back’ room where nurses (and hapless students) wrote notes in big metal charts.

At least the coffee there was safely tepid ,old …….and off limits to students.

We got used to things like this. Students knew their place as observers of luxury items.

I remember the day when the mighty met the curse of the cup.

An obnoxious Dr. bloviated and made a nurse give up her seat at the Nurse’s Station – so his royal ass could rest.

Karma is a bitch and is always watching. He pulled out his rolling chair at just the right moment and got a scalding back bath from one of the residents drinking coffee behind him.

The yelling was spectacular.

If you are reading this and never experienced the joy of the Solo Coffee cup….. ask someone who is older. Surely, they will have a story or two.