The Old Coot takes his coffee black - Published 7/3/24

 The Old Coot takes his coffee black.

By Merlin Lessler

 I was sitting in the Owego Kitchen coffee house the other day and wondered where the coffeehouse concept came from. I wondered. Google answered. They (it) said it was born in the Mideast, in the 15th century and migrated to Europe and England in the 17^th century. It was a “gentlemen only” establishment.! All I know is, they weren’t around when, or where, I was growing up. Sure, old guys hung out in diners, perched on swivel bar stools, sipping oily, black coffee from china mugs, chewing the fat, as they called those mindless conversations loaded with guffaws.

 In my world, the modern version of the coffee house began as a hippy thing. I was around, but unaware, as the concept blossomed. My wife and I were otherwise occupied, with three daughters under the age of five and too busy to afford us leisure time to hang out in a coffee house, listening to dreadful, home-grown poetry.   

 At any rate, in spite of our lack of participation, those institutions gravitated across the country throughout the 1960’s. Few if any, turned a profit. But that wasn’t the objective for the long-haired men and long-skirted women who ran them. They were designed to enhance the anti-establishment movement; owners and patrons subscribed to the credo: “Don’t trust anyone over 30.” It was a place where people discussed life philosophies on overstuffed, well-worn couches and chairs. A random guy or girl was often hanging out, strumming a guitar and singing folk songs like “This Land is Your Land.” It provided a refuge for young adults, especially college students doing homework and escaping every-day life.

 Coffee houses still are around, run by independent proprietors, slugging it out against the giants: Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts and the like – Corporations run by people over 30, not to be trusted who figured out how to monetize the hippy version of a coffee house. Who would have thought customers would pay 5, 7, 10 dollars or more for a complicated beverage crafted by a mixologist (barrister) to start their day. Not me! I take my coffee black and often with a free refill and then overstay my welcome. That’s what old coots do. We’re lucky, here in Owego, to be blessed with four coffeehouses that big business hasn’t gotten their hands on. Bring your guitar and strum a tune or two.