Obituary

Rest in peace, Coffee Stop espresso machine

This week the espresso machine in the Coffee Stop, perhaps over-burdened by the increasing late-semester demands of the student population it serves, stopped working. I first heard the news when I attempted to order a medium mocha Tuesday afternoon. The barista sheepishly told me that fulfilling such an order would not be possible due to the broken machine. She began to list possible alternatives — a hot chocolate, a cider — I said a hot chocolate would be alright. While I waited, I noticed, a little late, the several large signs posted around the Coffee Stop counter warning customers about the broken machine, and noting that, with any luck, it would be fully operational again by the end of the week.

I write not to complain or chastise the employees of the Coffee Stop or Dining Services as a whole — since this situation, after all, is probably most difficult for them — but simply to express woe on behalf of the student body over such rotten luck. Finals week is looming on the academic horizon; things are getting serious around here — there could be few worse times than now for the espresso machine to break down like this. I wish Dining Services and the Coffee Stop Godspeed in getting the machine up and running again. We need them now more than ever. The espresso machine is dead; long live the espresso machine.

(Editor’s Note: It’s entirely possible that the espresso machine could be up and running again by the time this paper is published.)