Good things happen at 'Eight O'Clock'

Fewer Americans are drinking a daily cup of coffee.

According to a National Coffee Association of USA survey, 61 percent of us do it, down from 63 percent.

But that's partly because many have jumped on the espresso bandwagon, reflecting a 13 percent increase.

I'm not one of them.

I drink plain old coffee, decaf or sometimes regular. It's a tradition.

It's a throwback to good old days when I'd enjoy a cup of Eight O'Clock coffee with my mother.

We'd discuss events of the day over one of her home-baked sticky buns.

Maybe we'd talk about current news, weather, or the latest activity at Atlas Powder Company where Mom worked.

Those are warm memories I'll always cherish, those casual conversations over a cup of joe.

But times have changed. Mom is gone and old-time, traditional coffee is as dated as a pair of bell-bottom pants.

Nowadays, the hip crowd drinks latte, cappuccino or espresso.

Or maybe iced coffee mocha with caramel and cinnamon.

Or macchiato, whatever that is.

Coffee has become a status symbol and we're being forced to learn French or Italian words to order a cup of it.

What I want is a cup of coffee the way I remember it from when I was young.

Just give me the good old A&P brand, Eight O'Clock.

It was fresh-ground at the cash register, and the distinctive aroma was the first thing to greet me when I walked into the store.

At the end of a shopping trip, the cashier would ask "How would you like your coffee ground?"

We'd answer "perc" or maybe "drip."

The clerk would then pour the bag of whole beans into the top of a tall, red grinder which would hum and roar while she rang up the rest of the food order.

Suddenly, the enticing fragrance of ground coffee beans would fill the store. It smelled good enough to eat.

Coffee is special that way. It's a comfort food.

My mother started each day with a savory cup of java lightened by a touch of cream or half-and-half. She was loyal to Eight O'Clock brand.

But things started to change in later years.

A&P went out of business.

At some point, snobbier brands emerged, supposedly chock-full of nuts or whatever.

Then came espresso and mocha. Finally, the world went cappuccino crazy. Sadly, plain old coffee began to disappear.

Why do we need to gourmet everything?

Today, I'm not really sure what coffee is. They don't call it coffee anymore.

They refer to it by those hotsy-totsy names I don't recognize and sell it at espresso bars.

I'm not into the bar scene.

I live a quiet life. I sit at home and stare at my coffee maker.

There, I reflect on the 1950s and '60s when a fresh cup was a morning pick-me-up.

And that's the extent of what it was. It wasn't a social statement. Nor was it a sign of aristocracy, nor a beverage that required learning a foreign language.

Of course, everything old is new again.

I predict a day will come when we'll reverse things and society will return to regular coffee.

I don't give a hill of beans for iced cappuccino with caramel topping.

I want to hold onto traditional coffee, and thankfully it's still available.

Just give me a cup of Eight O'Clock and a sticky bun.

And please, let's not turn sticky buns into anything gourmet.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

We need to tell the world to leave sticky buns alone. They're perfect just the way they are.

We can still enjoy our coffee, but let's watch our buns.