Something was brought to my attention that caught me off guard. My co-worker suggested having a cup of decaf coffee. I couldn’t believe that I didn’t think of that before. My co-worker even presented it like having a placebo. I have to say that I was skeptical about it at first. I used to think that it was kind of pointless to drink decaffeinated beverages. However, I have to admit I enjoyed the hot cup of decaf coffee. It satisfied some of the cravings I had and even though I didn’t feel any of the stimulating effects, it tasted like regular coffee especially with milk and sugar added.
So when I was at the Starbucks close to work which I patron frequently. The barista, who was being nice and thoughtful, went to make my regular drink. I had to stop her and inform her that I would be drinking decaf today. She actually thought I was joking so I informed her of the fourteen day experiment and what I was doing. She became more intrigued when I clarified that it was not just coffee but all forms of caffeine in general. She asked how I was doing with it and I responded by telling her that I am on the downward slope of my withdrawals and I was starting to feel a little bit better.
I sat down for a few minutes while I was drinking my coffee and reading the front page of the newspaper when the Starbucks barista came to our table to make small talk about what I thought about decaf. She brought up something I thought was interesting. She suggested that next time I come in she would just hand me a cup of coffee not telling me if it is decaf or regular and I would have to guess. As I was drinking my cup of coffee I thought to myself that I probably couldn’t tell by taste but I would assume that I would know by feeling the effect of regular coffee. I told her that it was an interesting concept and that maybe I would consider it but I needed to wait until my symptoms went away that way if I did drink a regular cup of coffee, it would not interfere with my caffeine withdrawals.
