The smell of burnt coffee

On Wednesday, our publisher Chuck Doud reported on plans for a big-name coffee conglomerate to install a kiosk in the lobby of the Madera County Government Center. It boggles my brain that our esteemed board of supes thinks this is a good use of taxpayer dollars. Creative bookkeeping and no-interest loans aside, this project has disaster written all over it in about six different languages.

First, let me say I am not what one would call a true coffee-drinker. I like a tiny bit of coffee with my milk and sugar. The brand of coffee I drink comes in a big red can from the grocery store. My biggest complaint about the type of coffee they intend to serve is that it is always made too strong for my palate. Additionally, spending $5 a cup for coffee is obscene.

I’ll admit the aroma of freshly brewed coffee delights its drinker and can be a welcome way to start the day. There are many people who are as addicted to their cup of Joe as I am to Pepsi and cigarettes.

But the overpowering smell of stale or burnt coffee can be enough to make those with delicate constitutions heave. Our nice, almost new government building is going to reek, like a four stories of dirty breakroom! ...