a need for more than caffeine

Abigail Thomas EDT 180B

May 8, 2008

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May 8, 2008 Dear Reader, It’s not that I don’t like my friends, or like being home, but sometimes I need to get away. Sometimes I need to go to a place that is so far removed from tick tocks, lap tops, my desk calendar, and MTV where I can breathe. My days are too jammed-packed Monday through Sunday that my soul demands a coffee break. I can’t go home. I can’t go for a drive. I can’t go shopping. I need some place that’s constant. I need some place that welcomes your loiter. Ever since high school, I have seen five new Starbucks open within ten minutes of my house. All five of them are busy from open to close. I don’t know what it is. My dad calls it ‘fancy coffee’ that he only buys on occasion. However, many customers, myself included, will go for water and sit for hours. Is it the coffee? The atmosphere? The company? In the following pages I explore many different possibilities and facts that might give me a lead to why people go to coffee shops. So sit back and save room for coffee, because after reading, you’ll be bound going to a coffee shop and observing yourself. Sincerely, Abigail Thomas

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Around Then I Visited a Coffee Shop…

Around 2001, I sipped coffee for the very first time and scrunched my face at its bitter

taste.

Around 2005, I drove to Starbucks by myself regularly in the late afternoons to journal

and sip a caramel latte.

Around 2004, I repented to a friend about bitterness I had towards her. I poured out my

feelings sitting on the curb, wishing my iced coffee would give me the right words.

Around 2006, I ended a three year relationship in the corner of a chaotic coffee shop.

Around 2007, I ran into him at the same coffee shop.

Around 2003, Audrey and I met regularly for coffee. She would always begin our

conversations with, “How are you?” We always stayed for a minimum of two hours.

Around 2006, I started working at Kidd Coffee in Middletown. I could make a mean

cappuccino.

Around 2005, all of us girls reunited for Christmas. We played Scrabble for hours on the

coffee stained tables, too overwhelmed by how much we all missed out on with each

other.

Around 2008, I used Kofenya as a source of coffee and a blueberry muffin every morning

before class.

Around 2007, I cried on the sofa in front of Audrey for an hour and a half, wishing I could

control my own life. She bought me a chai tea to ease my tears.

Around 2005, I wrote goodbye and thank you letters to all my best friends, and family. I

kept my head bent so no one could see how sad I really was to leave.

Around 2008, I still can’t put my finger on what exactly it is that makes a coffee shop so

attractive.

I never knew just what it was about this old coffee shop I love so much

All of the while I never knew

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I never knew just what it was about this old coffee shop I love so much

All of the while I never knew

Coffee Brewing

Flood of mud—6am

Molded by a cylinder

Jumps in another.

What is a barista?

Ann-Marie Kurtz said, no matter what automatic machines replace the hand-

held espresso devices, the barista is still the artist. This makes the barista

some one much more than a person who just makes the coffee, stands

behind the counter, and makes the customer whatever they want. Saying a

barista is an artist makes their artwork something that is to be valued and

desired. A barista is not a machine. Instead, a barista takes their time,

doesn’t follow the measurements precisely, and adds a secret spice to each

drink that customers would normally pay extra for, but since it’s this

barista, the sacrifice of money is worth the taste. A barista knows her

customers and their preferences before they even order. Even with the

most mundane drinks, a barista sees the drink as a challenge to make taste

sweeter and richer than the morning before. A barista’s final creation is

worth the $3.50, plus tip, and an extra minute or two.

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“I woke up itching. My tongue, my hands. The sole of my feet. When I stumbled to the kitchen , Reesa gave me scrambled eggs, but all I wanted was coffee.” --Elizabeth Bear, writer What You Need for Coffee

ON THE COUNTER:

Styrofoam Cups—Various sizes

One trusty sharpie Dozens of Flavored Syrups—Sugar free and Regular

Decaf and Regular espresso beans A coffee grinder

One expensive espresso maker One whole milk steel pitcher One skim milk steel pitcher

One soy milk steel pitcher A trusty steamer with a trustier thermometer

Talented arm movement to create foam Steady hands to add chocolate drizzle

A barista who knows perfection

Maxwell House and Folgers CEO Drink Starbucks

Think you’re the only one with a Starbucks fix? Not true. Even Maxwell and Folgers, major coffee bean warehouses, have been said to not even brew their own coffee anymore. According to Emily York, a journalist for Advertising Age¸ in August 2007, “although Folgers and Maxwell House

still control the bulk of supermarket ground-coffee sales, the total $29 billion coffee industry has become more about grabbing a paper cup on the way to work rather than brewing coffee at home.” There seems to be something enticing with knowing that premium coffee can be made quickly at a few bucks a cup. It’s not likely Maxwell or Folgers can make up this lost profit, seeing that American’s are gradually shifting in their ways of drinking coffee.

Maxwell closed its Texas roasting plant in early 2007 and is looking to further closures. If they are looking to save

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their company, says Dan Cook, president of Coffee Enterprise, they need to start looking at what their presidents are drinking then start to make changes based on that—“It doesn’t work unless it comes from the top down.”

I never knew just what it was about this old coffee shop I love so much

All of the while I never knew I never knew just what it was about this old coffee shop

I love so much All of the while I never knew

A Testament to Customer Service

6:30am

acoustic guitar in the speakers

car lights parking

the external and internal thoughts of one tired barista

barista’s interaction with a customer inside the barista’s mind

B: Good Morning! How are you today? [annoyed]

C: Oh, great thanks! and you? great once you let me get back to

my bagel and coffee

B: What can I get for you? drip coffee. drip coffee.1

C: A skinny mocha latte2 a skinny? that’s not going to make much of

a difference

B: For here or to go? would you like to be taxed or not?

C: To go. Good to hear.

1Drip coffee is regular brewed coffee that takes no effort to serve. The barista simply grabs a cup, pumps the air pot a few times, and hands off. 2 A skinny mocha latte is much more complicated than the drip coffee. It requires steamed skim milk, sugar free mocha syrup, two shots of perfectly brewed espresso, and froth. Whipped cream can be added with a chocolate drizzle.

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B: Whip cream? well that shot to hell the whole ‘skinny’

idea

C: Extra, please. you would

… With a smile on her face the barista hands off the drink to the anticipating customer,

and he walks out the door.

The barista plants a seat in front of her large hot coffee and lets out a sigh just as another

customer walks in the door.

Good Morning! How are you today? ...

Q: Elizabeth Bear said to never underestimate a good cashier. Why?

A: If you give them their desired drink right when they pull up in the drive-thru to order, your tip becomes bigger, your boss becomes happier because your customer has a tight schedule and appreciates that you cater to that. Especially if research is showing that “people are drinking one to two-thirds of their java outside the home,” says the Economist, baristas/cashiers are offered a challenge to win the customer over at their shop rather than letting them drive off thinking they’ll be more satisfied somewhere else. At Kofenya, Nicole knows my order every morning. She asks so I can say as few words as possible. I’m not a morning person, so this is nice. I simply pay and smile, using as little effort possible, at ease with the comfort I have in a single person knowing what I have to say.

It was said…

A while ago… Starbucks closed its doors, nationwide, from

5:30-8:30, to retrain their employees to “regain the soul of the

past and improve the customers’ experiences.” Based off an

article by Michael Grynbaum from the New York Times, it was said

a Starbucks employee stood outside to decline potential

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customers at this time, giving away free mini-lattes for the

inconvenience.

It was said by Howard Schultz, the founder of Starbucks, that

its’ atmosphere should be one of “romance and theater” and is

frustrated because it hasn’t been getting that perception.

It was said by some customers that Starbucks has become “too

sterile” due to the automated machines that pump out java in just

seconds. There lies no room for the barista and diminishes the

art of creating premium coffee.

It was said by a 16 year old passerby that “The stigma of a big

chain doesn’t go away by making coffee slower.” He just wants

his coffee. Starbucks wants recognition for having a passion

for coffee and a concern for their customers.

It was said by me, the observer of the crisis that Starbucks needs

to relearn their mission and core beliefs before they upset both

the efficient time managers and the flavor fiends.

I never knew just what it was about this old coffee shop I love so much

All of the while I never knew I never knew just what it was about this old coffee shop

I love so much All of the while I never knew

Outside looking in…

She sits there, outside, identified by her pink ribbed tank top hidden under a pearl

buttoned cardigan, worn with newly broken-in Birkenstock sandals. She sits Indian-style

in the black grated and wired chair, shameless in her gray cotton skirt. She does not move

even to reach for her iced coffee, which is slowly becoming less and less ice. The beads of

the clear plastic cup hint towards the heat of the day. Nothing fazes her. She is alone,

undisturbed, focused on tissue-thin pages bound by blood red leather. You can see her

skin lay underneath her hairline as she bends her head down to read the words. Her wisps

wave around her forehead and land, pointing to her eyes that still carry pebbles of sleep

remnants. Even though she is sitting there still in the light of the morning, people keep

turning their heads towards her walking by—her act a mystery and her beauty radiant.

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Extended definition on what it means to chill… To chill is a main reason why many people go to coffee shops. It is a vague word

yet a staple that good coffee shops seem to offer. To chill can mean a variety or

accumulation of things, but to start attaching extra meaning, lets go to what chill is

referring to.

When you’re chilling something, you’re cooling it down; you’re slowing it down

to release some heat. It seems to be only obvious that to chill in a coffee shop would

mean to relax for a bit and de-stress, take a breath, rejuvenate, not worry, and bring ease

to the soul. To chill for everyone then could be applied differently. My idea of chilling

would not be watching TV or going for a run, but rather going to a coffee shop to sip

something warm, read something I enjoy, write about something I want, talk to people

that I like, all the while having easy acoustic guitar playing in the extra space, reminding

me again of the worthy things in life.

Why do you go to coffee shops?

Because that’s where all my friends go to chill

I go to chill Yeah, I’d say to chill

or to look out the window or to study or to think. I go because no one looks at you weird

no one disturbs you and it’s relaxing.

I go to do work, even when the library is more efficient

the library is also too suppressing I can breathe and have space

in a coffee shop. I go because my friends go

and I like to be with friends and I like good music

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and I like good coffee. at different places I get different things

I’m peculiar about my coffee it needs to be good

but if the atmosphere is better I’ll take that.

Nicole, what makes a coffee shop space a good one? Lots of color. All of our walls are bright and our décor—eclectic. Good music always but let the person working pick it. Be flexible, letting furniture be moved and offering games for customers to play and pieces of art to look at. We want people to stay for long amounts of time, so we cater to them. We ourselves try to be quiet enough so customers can work or do what they came to do without interruptions. We also provide some noise to keep up with the coffee shop atmosphere—good music and coffee making noises. Our goal is to be a place where community is found, and whether we can be a part of that community or not is up to the customer.

(inspired by

William Carlos Williams)

the traditional coffee shop has

so much commotion on hard wood boards stained with bean juice confined by glass walls.

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Dayna is a girl I work with who always comments on my large coffee intake during our

shift. Dayna herself isn’t much of a coffee drinker, yet ironically I see her in Kofenya all

the time. She can’t do homework there, it’s too distracting, but she goes for hours to sit

and hang out, get-to-know, and meet all sorts of people. I stole some of her time one day

and asked her about all her reasonings for going, and this is what I found…

One on One with Dayna Dayna chooses espresso over brew, company over coffee, a coffee shop over any other place. Why? Because you can sit. Because you can stay. Because it’s loud enough to talk and quiet enough to listen. Because restaurants turn over and you have to tip. Final thoughts?

Being in person is just better than any other form of talk. Small, wooden tables with uneven legs that cause the table to teeter-totter back and forth back and forth with elbow pressure allow for you to lean in close, rest your hand on their arm, and say a million things by just being there in front of them.

it is said…

Where there is no talk, there is no life.

----ray oldenburg

Created Comfort

I confess: I’m lonely even when everyone was home. I stayed upstairs antsy for new settings. Coffee was compelling, so I called you up for some company. I told you I needed to talk and to meet me in ten minutes. Maybe I should be straight-forward instead of saying I need to talk. I have nothing to say. I confess: I like it here where every one is comfortable in a strange setting.

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Every one can sit and be still, sit and talk, sit and read, sit and think, and no one has to have a reason. I wait for you. Then we order in house mugs, proof we will linger. Hard oak chairs scoot against the brown waxed floor. The air lets us keep layers on as we sit by the door.

The awkward conversation starters are proof it’s been a while. We catch up then you catch on. I have nothing to say. I’m merely thankful for the comfort that came with you here over decaf coffee.

Talk at Starbucks

We couldn’t meet until midnight the day after New Year’s, the day

before Whitney caught her flight back to Utah. Most of the girls bailed

when the time actually arrived, mainly because it was late or they were already somewhere else. Katie and I showed up though, the only two

people she was close to anyway. As we pulled in the parking lot together,

there was Whitney waiting for us on the sidewalk, her hair a little shorter

and her face a little paler since last time I saw her. We made a scene with our reunion. hugs and screams lingering for long minutes, until the

frigid air reminded us we were not inside yet.

We ordered our Starbucks staples— Whitney a white mocha, Katie a frap, me a passion tea sweetened— and sat across from the window

wall at a table for two. Even though the coffee shop was clearing out, it

was understood that a two-top was more preferable than a spacious four chair one. Personal space has never been respected and wasn’t going to

be. We pulled up another chair.

Whitney has been married for six months now and is a sophomore in college. This would be her last time home to Ohio before her parents

move west to be closer to her. Katie and I haven’t seen her since the

reception. We three sit close, leaned in, and spill our lives…events first,

hearts second. I start. They listen. Katie goes. We listen. Whitney’s turn. She hesitates.

“Whit, how are you doing?”

Long pause. Her head bends and she stares at the wood table. Tearing pieces of napkin consumes her. While she’s playing with the

paper napkin in her hands, she squints hard to keep her eyes from

dripping saline water. I grab her arm. “Whit, what’s going on?”

Her lip quivers. She whispers, “I don’t want to be married

anymore,” dropping the paper napkin pieces from her hand.

I never knew just what it was about this old coffee shop

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I love so much All of the while I never knew

I never knew just what it was about this old coffee shop I love so much

All of the while I never knew

Community walks in the drafty doors and heads are instantly raised. She is on a first name basis here. Before getting in line she’s stopped multiple times by random acquaintances from class or work. It is obvious community belongs and is deeply loved. She spends a lot of her hours keeping up with people’s lives over coffee, attending calendar events, and making sure she’s available every time someone needs comfort. Everyone knows Community’s number because she has proved herself to be a woman

of her word and used many times to fall back on. Community grabs her coffee and finds a table by the window. She settles in excited to catch up with her long time friend Solitude.

Interview: I go to coffee shops to get away. I like to go alone to think, but I

still like knowing people are around me enjoying their stay.

Things Social Lubricants Trigger

What exactly is it about coffee shops that make people go to them?

After interviewing many of people, I can’t help but notice that through the desire for coffee and the desire for a nice atmosphere, we as people are still on a “quest for community” (Oldenburg, 3). I’m learning that not everyone goes to coffee shops as often as me, or even ever!, but they still seek out community elsewhere, whether it’s a bar, a team, a restaurant, or a whole street.

Now for those who come get coffee and sit and stay awhile, Ray

Oldenburg, author of The Great Good Places, says those people use their “social sacramental beverages” or their “social lubricant” to spur intellect. Whether it’s to engage in a conversation, to contemplate music, to read or to write, people who like to get raw with their thoughts are attracted to coffee shops.

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It’s exam week at Miami, and there is not a seat at Kofenya open as I

sit down to write this. Everyone is submerged in deep thought, or appears to be. Maybe that’s the mysticism about coffee shops—it makes you feel more studious just by being there, and indulging in some social lubricant of course.

Now, Oldenburg also writes that “reduced space and facilities of

apartment living create a greater demand for public places offering informal relaxation and social contact…” (194). This is also a “ah ha!” moment because during exam week we Miamians need more room and not any of our own. It only makes sense to find a neutral setting.

I want to yell… Kofenya! Calling all thinkers! Calling all wannabe thinkers! We got the goods. But people come without me yelling a word. The quest for community is constantly being sought out. This week, the community at Kofenya is united by finals. We all have a dance party to Fergie Ferg at 2 am for a study break. The beauty is I don’t know anyone.

I never knew just what it was about this old coffee shop

I love so much

All of the while I never knew

It was you

It was you

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Bibliography Bear, Elizabeth. "Annie Webber." Futures 31 January 2008. "Coffee Wars." Economist 12 January 2008. Fanas, Nick. Memoirs from a Coffee Shop. 2001. Frazier, Mya. "Starbucks it itsn't-and purposely so." Advertising Age 14 March

2005: 12. Grynbaum, Michael. "Starbucks Takes a 3-Hour Coffee Break." New York Times

21 February 2008. Kidd, Victor. "How it all began." Kidd Coffee. 2007. 12 Mar 2008. Oldenburn, Ray. The Great Good Place. 1998. Pigg, Landon. "Falling in love at a Coffee Shop lyrics." Letssingit. 2008. 12 Mar

2008. York, Emily. "Why the coffee kings are losing their power." Advertising Age 20

August 2007: 4-25.

Notes

Visual Element—Graffiti Picture (page one)

Coffee. Creativity. Community. Who knew coffee could be the trigger for more than just a jumpstart to the day? I love this artwork because it shows how coffee is just one thing that brings together so much more. Like we learn from Oldenburg, coffee is for thinkers, and thinkers are usually found listening to music and reading and writing. This art work includes all of these things in the painting, and then labels them as creativity. I love this art too because it helps bring closure to my paper, showing that no matter what brings you to a coffee shop, community is formed, whether with the barista, other fellow readers or writers, or the ones you came with.

Unifying Element—Falling in love at a coffee shop by Landon Pigg Landon Pigg came to Miami University Friday, March 28th to perform. I missed the concert but ran into him afterwards right outside the Heritage Room at Shriver. I figured the opportunity couldn’t have been more perfect to ask him about his Falling in love in a

coffee shop hit, so I did. Standing in the doorway of the entrance to the concert, I asked him if this song was about something that happened to him personally. Instead of answering, he ran away. No joke, Landon Pigg completely dodged my question by leaving me high and dry, saying nothing, and hiding in a corner of the concert hall. But I followed, asking him again. He simply answered, “If that could happen, it would happen like that.” Landon Pigg ladies and gentlemen. I’m assuming he’s available and slowly withering in the corner of a coffee shop, waiting for that love to come around. Wherever he is, his curiosity for the magic in coffee shops was one of the first things that triggered my curiosity for the compelling agent in coffee shops. I thought it only appropriate to use it to keep reminding my audience what it is exactly about coffee shops that makes them so attractive.

What is a barista? (page four) Ann-Marie Kurtz is Starbucks’ manager for global coffee and tea education. She is quoted in the article Starbucks takes a 3-Hour Coffee Break by Michael M. Grynbaum about Starbucks’ shift a few years ago to automated espresso machines instead of the barista themselves packing and brewing the espresso shots. The chief executive is sold on the idea that it has been an aid to the company’s downward slide in business, however, Kurtz feels like they are a great tool that still allows for the barista to have full control over a drink by selecting different settings on the machine. This discussion shows how important it is for the company, the barista, and even the customers to know each coffee is being made for perfection and not simply another thing mixed by a machine in seconds. To prove the importance of a good latte creates a more important and significant role for the barista.

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A Testament to Customer Service (pages six and seven)

I used to work at Kidd Coffee, a greater Cincinnati coffee shop chain, where we were always told to love the customer, constantly acting gracious towards them. However, there were many times where I had to pull a smile on my face and do mouth exercises just so I didn’t seem like a total bum at 6:30 in the morning. With this piece, I have fun with what the barista is

saying to the customer to appease the “love the customer” motto and what the barista is really saying to herself as she serves this customer a latte. Even when that customer leaves and the barista thinks she has a break, another car pulls right on up. Such the fate of working the morning shift.

Outside Looking In—Free Verse Poetry (page eight) In this piece, I wanted to thoroughly describe a girl I saw at Kofenya reading her Bible outside. There is not much action to her, but I was so attracted to the simplicity of her sitting there that I had to write about it. There’s not much more to say, but than to appreciate the language used.

Why do you go to coffee shops? (page nine)

This free verse poem is an accumulation of dozens and dozens of interviews I took over a span of weeks. I couldn’t possibly have noted all their names in the bibliography, so I decided to press all of their words together in hopes that would ease my responsibility of giving all of them credit. I was surprised by how many high schoolers said they liked to

chill, so I decided to add an introductory to my free verse poem explaining the extended definition of the verb. Other than that, I wasn’t too surprised at the responses I received, especially after reading Ray Oldenburg’s The Great Good Place and realizing that many people who do go to coffee shops like to relax to good music, have good company, and find a place that lets them think.

Nicole… (page ten) This is Nicole Ayres response to my question about the atmosphere of coffee shops in general. Nicole is a manager at Kofenya, and is looking to become an owner of a new coffee shop in Middletown.

Created Comfort—Poetic Story (page eleven)

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In this poetic story/situation, I wanted to descriptively portray a late night hang out at a coffee shop. Often at night after sad days, I will randomly call up a friend to just keep me company. These times are not huge markers on the fun-scale, but these kinds of talks are comforting to me just to be able to relax in an occupied setting. Sometimes our homes are too cluttered or trigger too much thought to be able to stay. Sometimes we need some place new surrounded by some new people to comfort our irritated insides. We create this comfort by going to a place and calling a person that can ease us for a while at the least. I describe this process as poetically as I can, paying close attention to word choice and alliteration, as well as the rhythm of the sentence itself.

Talk at Starbucks—Flash Fiction (pages twelve and thirteen) Like I say later in my self assessment, this was a hard, yet settling piece to write. The scene I wrote about took place two winters ago and still haunts me. I write in the sequential order of how I saw things develop that night, so Whitney’s words were not made up, but a big shock to me the first time as well. I also feel like this piece really says a lot about the atmosphere that is established at coffee shops. To even be able to have such an intimate conversation with no eaves-droppers is a blessing.

Expository Piece—Things Social Lubricants Trigger (Pages thirteen

and fourteen) With this piece I used the interesting information I found reading Ray Oldenburg’s The

Great Good Place which is a three-hundred page book exploring why Americans go to the places they go. It explores the history as well as the present, and offered much clarity to my aimless research. It was in this book where I found comfort in knowing not everyone is attracted to coffee shops, and that was OK, but everyone is attracted to community, and that’s what I had found.

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Self-Assessment of MG Research Paper (EDT 180B) Name: Abigail Thomas Date: May 8, 2008 Full Title of MG: A Need for More than Caffeine 1) Tell what surprised you in writing your multigenre paper. The “It was said…” piece really surprised me. I knew from my research a lot of

my articles came from different viewpoints and therefore contrasted one another and I

wanted to write about that tension. However, I just wanted to get the information down

on paper before I started to rework it more creatively. When I first quoted an article, I

wrote, “it was said…” then when I quoted another person, I said the same thing on

accident. When talking about the third, I liked the repetition and thought it showed the

tension well of who to really listen to. I wasn’t expecting that.

2) Tell what was hard about writing this paper and explain why. I found it hard to include all of my interview information. I used some here and

there by itself, but only found it beneficial to create a free-verse, found poem with my

collected answers. Certain interviews surprised me, therefore, I made them stand alone,

but many of the other answers were typical, and I couldn’t find another creative way of

representing them.

3) Tell about the best or most effective piece of writing in your paper and explain

why it is best. “Talk at Starbucks” is probably my most effective piece of writing because it

captures what coffee shops are to me. In high school and college, my friends and I

always resort to a local coffee shop to get away and talk. Earlier on in this paper, I

wasn’t feeling like I was getting the importance of coffee shops out on paper with

words, so this flash fiction piece really helped display the emotion and the importance

such neutral space can be. Also, this piece is a true story that still haunts me today. I

spent much time on it to give the moment its due, pining down concrete images I have

of that night. I use dialogue to keep the fiction going, yet also stop for background

information as well. Usually I’m not good at combining these three techniques

together, but I’m proud that I did in this one.

4) Tell about the weakest piece in your multigenre paper and explain why. My quality piece is definitely the weakest part of this multigenre paper. I have

never been good at writing qualities, hence why I’ve never included them in previous

papers, however, I wanted to capture the contrast of wanting community at a coffee shop

yet wanting to be alone in the midst of such community. Many of the people I interviewed

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desire this when they go to coffee shops, as well as I, and so I wanted to try to bring that

to life by personifying each quality. I hate that I am not satisfied with it, but I’m done

reworking it.

5) Explain what are you proudest of in your multigenre paper. I am proudest of my “Created Comfort” piece. This piece caused me a lot of

turmoil because to everyone who read it was immensely confused at what I was trying to

say. Not that a little mystery is bad, but I wasn’t being effective with my word choice and

syntax. I still liked the idea of what I was trying to get across, but I decided to scrap the

poem itself and rework into more of a prose poem. I used many of the same words,

except elaborated and used more sensory images to really show the reader what I was

trying to capture. I read it to my housemates and they were impressed. It took me a good

hour or two to simply rework this piece, I should be proud.