REPTILE BARISTAS...I LOST A BET!

                                                                         BARISTA


                                                                    STELLA

HELLO GENTLE READERS,

Remember my friend Stella? A lovely girl, not too bright but, lovely. She and I stopped by Tilly's Coffee House for a quick cup the other day. After following Stella around Wal Mart for two hours, I was ready for a caffeine infusion. Actually, I needed a coupla' shots of Canadian but, a cup of coffee was a beginning.

We'd never been to Tilly's before and I expected a Starbuck's clone. Before I go any further, I have a confession to make: Coffe shop menus intimidate me! I never know what to order. I'll stand in line, silently try to pronounce the selections, pick out one I think my hillbilly tongue can negotiate, get to the counter and say, "Large coffee, please!" If you think I'm inept at ordering, you should watch Stella. Her room tempature IQ drops a few degrees and all motor activity ceases. Please forgive me this digression.

Anyway, as I say, I expected a typical coffee shop and, it was. Except!...you're not going to believe this!...An iguana! The Barista was an iguana! Even Stella noticed this! A "big-ass" iguana, too! I couldn't even stammer out, "Large coffee, please." Being of sound stock, I recovered quite nicely, though. I said, "What the hell!"A tiny, teenage, feminine voice emerged from this trainload of ugly saying, "I lost a bet"!

Tom Vickers