Angela Smith Guest Post:

I went to the eye doctor the other day. I’ve been going to that office for at least twenty-five years now, and even though the staff changes, I’ve only been through two actual doctors, and they are related. The first retired, but his son-in-law took over. 

I’ve known them a long time, so while the conversation we had might feel odd for some patients, for me it was completely natural. 

Last year, he went through an unexpected divorce. So what did he do? He decided that three weeks out of the year he would do something adventurous. He calls it adventurous, but some would call it crazy. This October, he is visiting Peru. In June, he visited Sumatra. He’s done a few other things and I lamented that I’m not near that adventurous. 

My first comment to him when he said he went to Sumatra was did you get to enjoy the coffee? Because I love coffee and Sumatran is one of my favorites. He said “Oh you mean the cat?” And I’m confused. No. I mean the coffee.  Then he explains to me that there is a certain coffee bean in Sumatra where an endangered cat eats the leaves of this bean and poops it out. They then take that poop and extract the beans or what have you, and they brew coffee. In New York, you can buy one cup of this coffee for $800. He got to try it for free.

I have cats. I love my cats. But I’m not sure I’d want to try anything, including a rare coffee bean, from their poop.