Coffee jumps starts the day

Every morning I wake up and head to work. I take the same route down Route 138 to downtown Taunton from my home in Raynham Monday through Friday.

And I usually make the same pit stop - at Dunkin' Donuts - to pick up a large coffee, milk, two sugars.

You can pretty much bank on it. It's the same old song and dance my friends.

Yet, I'm probably way behind everyone else when it comes to coffee consumption.

It seems like everybody is drinking more than one cup a day. And maybe I should too.

After all, I'd be helping the economy.

Coffee is the second most commonly traded commodity in the world. It trails petroleum and you know how much of that our vehicles consume.

Forget soda or water too.

Coffee is the most consumed beverage in the nation and the world.

Maybe because it's the popular thing to do. Or maybe it's just become our way of life - like getting dressed or brushing your teeth.

Or maybe it's really an addiction. Coffee is a chief source of caffeine.

The coffee industry states that 6.7 million tons of coffee were produced annually in 1998-2000. That is expected to rise to 7 million tons annually by 2010.

That's a lot of beans!

According to Coffeeresearch.org, there were 108,000,000 coffee consumers in the United States in 1999 spending an approximated $9.2 billion in retail and $8.7 billion in food service.

People drink 3.1 cups of coffee per day in the United States, according to statistics.

It's no surprise considering the number of options people have with coffee these days.

We make it at home. We take it to the office. We swallow it in diners, restaurants, convenience stores, coffee shops and fancy cafes.

There are so many different flavors too.

Of course, you have the good old-fashioned instant coffee.

Then there's the dark roast. And French Vanilla. Caramel. Cinnamon.

You name it.

Most people probably should just attach an IV to their arm and keep the coffee flowing all through the day.

Imagine how much of a better work you would be if you could ride that caffeine high?

It takes you to a new level. It gets the fires brewing. It gets the mind working.

It wakes us up. To reach new heights. To climb higher mountains.

To go where no coffee drinker has gone before.

We pretty much need coffee to survive. We pretty much need it to function properly as human beings.

You know how you are without it. You're a grumpy, rotten, miserable person until that first sip of coffee.

And suddenly the world becomes a better place. People become more tolerable. That job isn't actually so bad after all.

We start looking at the day as a little sunnier. We feel a little better about ourselves.

And then we crash. We need more coffee.

We need another cup. I'm only drinking one a day.

Maybe I need to drink two.

Or at least a cup with some Folgers Instant Crystals, these little flakes that produce a lot of energy.

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