I know… I know… It’s like an obsession with me, this free coffee thing on the train. It’s not that I’m cheap, but it’s the challenge. Can I get a free cup of coffee out of the cafe car attendant from a decades old promotion, that involved buying a souvenir Amtrak mug, that promised endless coffee ‘til mug do us part?

So, today I was awake early. I had things to read and write so I headed past my sleeping fellow travelers for coffee, without the mug, just to check on who’s selling the coffee on this train. It was Marshal. He seemed friendly enough and one who would honor the coffee deal. So why not give it a shot.

So give it a shot I did. I went back and this time ordered my yogurt and coffee and greeted Marshal with my mug. After some friendly banter he proclaimed, “That will be two-dollars.” 

“Ah,” I thought. “Success!”

“No, wait,” he said. “I forgot the yogurt. That’ll be four-fifty.”

Bah! In an instant, success turned into failure, free turned into two-dollars.

So there you go… It’s not that I’m cheap… it’s the challenge.