I have a pretty solid morning routine at work.

I mix together yogurt and granola for breakfast. While we have paper plates and bowls available to us, I use my own little Tupperware bowl every day, and I wash it out when I’m done.

I have two or three cups of green tea each morning, in a ridiculous teacup that looks like it was transported here directly from the year 1914. The tea and teacup is also provided by work. There was a coffee machine that has a hot water tap on the side, so that hot water is always available and ready to go for tea drinkers. I have a little honey bear that I use to squeeze some honey into my tea. I stir it with a spoon.

Work provides us with disposable utensils. I have had one plastic spoon that I’ve been using for a long time for tea stirring and yogurt eating.

Today is the day it all changed.

Our coffee machine has been replaced by one of those Keurig coffee machines, and there’s no hot water tap anymore. I panicked, because the only other option is to take water from the water cooler, put it into 1914 teacup, and hope the antique pottery survives the two minutes in the microwave.

So I go to the – zounds! New water cooler too! I pause and briefly consider my path this morning, and am trying to remember whether or not I actually entered the correct office. I’m definitely in the same place I’m supposed to be. Dang. Upon investigation, I find that instead of a little tap like you’d expect on a water cooler, where you push down to open the valve to let water escape, there are buttons. Three buttons. One button is for cold water. The other two, if pressed simultaneously, magically provide hot water. Victory!

Our old water cooler, with the valves, releases a gentle flow of water. Our new water cooler seems to want to deliver the delicious solvent I seek with maximum force, as quickly as possible. It’s very near the stream you’d expect from a water cutter.

So, besides the risk of losing fingers from this directed stream of water, I begin to worry about 1914 teacup’s ability to absorb the blast. But not for very long. The jet of water is so fierce that it hits the teacup and immediately starts splashing out of the cup all over me. Did I mention the water was very hot?

After checking for third degree burns, and noting that 1914 teacup is still miraculously suited to its task of holding liquid, I had water for tea. Not surprisingly, so did the counter top, the wall, and most of the neutral-colored carpet. I opened and then added the teabag to let the tea steep.

Next, I go to the drawer to see about replacing my spoon. Instead of normal spoons, we now have biodegradable spoons as pictured above. No big deal. Time to walk back to my cube with my tea and new spoon.

I mix together my yogurt and granola, and stir it with the spoon. I add honey to the tea and start to stir it together. The spoon begins to degrade, in the tea, while I’m stirring.

And that’s how my new morning has gone so far.