loyalties

As all you loyal readers know, I tend to drink a cup of coffee of a morning. And as you also know, I've developed a bit of a camaraderie with my coffee suppliers, those sweet men who work at the various places from which I purchase said coffee.

Which is a lovely thing, and something that I truly adore about this great, seething, teeming city of mine. But it also leads to divided loyalties.

I've been going to the stand on 116th & Broadway for awhile now, though I couldn't really tell you why. I think it's because he remembers to put only one sugar in my coffee, instead of the three heaping spoonfuls that generally equals a 'regular' in this town.

But this morning I decided to go to Hamilton Deli instead, though again I couldn't really tell you why. And when I got up to the counter, my deli man glanced up, did a double-take, rubbed his eyes, looked at me again, and crowed, "Emily! Where have you been??"

Needless to say, it was with more than a little guilt that I handed over my dollar bill and a quarter before heading back up the stairs into the winter cold.