Three Drinks, The First

Earl: Life just really isn't the same anymore, is it, Albert? From youth on up, everything has been changing slowly. Tea for me, please.

Albert: Perhaps it has. But what's changed most isn't the world around us, but really us ourselves, hasn't it? Cup of coffee, please.

Earl: Even so, isn't it because we have to adapt to the world itself? I'm sure that the world couldn't have advanced uniformly; rather it is that a small group of people advance, and everyone else is forced to follow in the same path.

Albert: Suppose you're right. What difference does it make now that you are aware of such a fact?

Earl: It means that after all this, we aren't ourselves any longer! Look at yourself, Albert. When, why'd you start drinking coffee? Since everyone at work drank it in the morning to keep themselves awake in this horrendously boring lifestyle and world?

Albert: Maybe it's because I'm still myself, that I find myself over here drinking coffee while listening to you. Is it not?

Earl: I hardly get you. Look at the world. All the issues and problems. I'm sure you're struggling with life as much as I am, and I'm just as sure we're not alone in this. Why can't we just go back to the way it was before? Simple and peaceful...

Albert: This isn't the past anymore,Earl. Things change. You've changed, and I've changed too. Life's rolled us some bad dice rolls. But you know what? This is all part of life; part of reality.

Earl: ...

Albert: Earl, let me ask you a question, and try to answer even if you aren't sure if it's correct.

Earl: I'm all ears.

Albert: If there was a drink out there that truly signified that you have matured, what would it be?

Earl: ...I don't know.

Albert: It's this simple cup of coffee. Life is tough, Earl, we all know that. This nice cup of coffee that everyone drinks every single day reminds them that very fact; life is bitter, life is hard. This bitterness is a simple reminder that reality just isn't the sweet life that kids and teens dream of, Earl. Take a sip.

Earl: ...it's bitter indeed, but there's a slight tinge of...

Albert: Sugar, isn't it? That's the thing. That's the little bit of sweetness inside that tells you not to succumb. Not to succumb to the world outside, the pains of reality that always try to bog you down. It's telling you to make sure that you remember the ups along with the downs in this roller coaster of life. Because among all that bitterness, there's just that small bit of sweetness that makes life bearable, perhaps even enough to enjoy. But you can't add too much sugar either. The coffee becomes too sweet and its flavour gets ruined. Maybe life has changed for the worse, Earl. It probably has. But it's the small traces among everything that truly make this cup of coffee what it really is. And guess what? It's incidentally this cup here that gives just the energy to pass through the day. Ironic, isn't it?

Albert: ...you want another sip?

Earl: ...I think I will.