Meet My GingerTwin, Cindy Daniel & Bring Fresh Coffee…

For as long as I can remember, my twin sister has given anyone selling coffee the stinkeye whenever she orders a cup of coffee while half asking and half demanding “is it fresh?!”  Cindy is a coffee connessiuer who only drinks fresh cofee and lots of it. 

 When we were young, coffee was cheaper than milk so we’ve been drinking coffee most of our lives.

We spend a lot of time together like many of our twin friends and believe it or not identical twins are not always identical when it comes to their style or even their likes and dislikes.  Twins may look alike but they often have personalities that are remarkably different.  I could care less if my coffee is fresh and if it isn’t, order hot tea or unsweet ice tea.  It’s not a big deal for me- I’ve drank plenty of cups of coffee that weren’t “fresh.”

Cindy asks for fresh coffee no matter where we are or what we are doing and if it isn’t fresh, my GingerTwin will complain about it until I can find her fresh coffee.

Yesterday I ordered a coffee from Whataburger and asked if it was fresh at the drive thru with Cindy giving me the old stinkeye to be sure I asked.  After thirty years of ordering for my sister I find it hilarious that she thinks I’m not going to ask especially when she’s sitting right next to me.  I tried the coffee myself first and thinking it had passed the test, handed it to Cindy who immediately started complaining that the coffee was bitter and “at least two hours old.”

Cindy is pretty easygoing about many things except perhaps coffee and comfort, of course!  My twin hates dressing up- I love it.  My twin hates being uncomfortable- I’m used to it. My twin loves big hair- I hate it.  I could go on and on but you get the point.  If Cindy’s unhappy-the team will be hearing about it until I can find a cup of hot coffee somewhere in the middle of nowhere!

My husband always tries to start the coffee right before Cindy comes over knowing she will be smelling the pot and swishing it around like a fine wine while asking “is this coffee fresh?!”  On a few occasions, it was thirty minutes or so after brewing when Cindy strolled in and examined the color, the clarity and the cup of coffee before telling us “this coffee looks old!”

My husband loves the movie No Country For Old Men for one reason- the one liners.  His all time favorite?  “You got any coffee?”  Walking to the pot “it’s fresh, I make a fresh pot every week whether I need to or not!”  If thirty minute old coffee isn’t fresh enough- can you imagine my sister sipping week old coffee? Heaven forbid. 

I don’t believe I’ve ever been anywhere in the world where Cindy wasn’t looking for fresh coffee.  Up until five months ago when we started our weight loss journey, Cindy drank coffee all day long and never even sipped ice water at a restaurant.  Cindy hates water but is making herself drink it because it helps flush fat but if it were up to her- coffee would be substituted for tea only when no fresh coffee was available she doesn’t like water and has to force herself to drink it.

A few months ago on a trip to Santa Monica, my sister spent most of our trip trying to find a fresh cup of coffee somewhere.  She finally gave up and started drinking hot tea because “these restaurants leave the same pot of coffee burning all day long and think no one can tell.”

The problem with her switch to hot tea was that every time she ordered it, the waiter/waitress never brought more hot water.

Thirty years ago, Cindy and I both worked as waitresses for a number of years and one thing that was important to our customers was keeping their coffee or tea filled.  The second was clearing off dishes so our guests could visit.  

Lately,  finding someone to wait on you without you having to “wait for them at a restaurant, ”  you would need to go see my niece Stephaney who often is so good at her job that she refills other servers sections because they never bother checking on their guests.  

We call her the Cynical Server because she’s hilarious and “spot on” with observations of the food service industry and a few servers who shouldn’t be working there.  Stephaney “stays on top” of your order, your drinks and your needs.  

Finding that type of service today is like finding a needle in a haystack and no matter how bad your service is or how stale your coffee is–we still tip you 20% because we remember (all too well) busting our butts for $1.00 tip.  The person leaving the lousy tip was often the most demanding customer too.

Once I followed a party of 25 who had run me ragged with their All You Can Eat refills while working at Red Lobster for three hours after they left me a quarter.  I was 21 years old and while I had worked at Red Lobster for two years earning a good living, All You Can Eat Specials brought in the cheapest and most demanding customers I had ever seen.  Where did these diners come from?  My “regulars” we’re the only reason that I kept from starving to death with measly tips (if any) from the All You Can Eat folks.

One night my entire shift was spent waiting on the party of 25 people who were rude and cheap that they left quarter tip!  I decided to follow them to the cashier and give them that quarter back because “obviously they needed it more than me.”

Is it the guilt of remembering the days of slinging hash and counting cash that have made us over tippers?  Waitressing is hard work and my motto is that if you can’t afford to tip don’t go to a restaurant.

These days no matter how awful the service is or isn’t- Cindy and I tip 20% out of habit although we know when you forgot to turn our order in and we recognize your inability to refill tea or coffee.  

Servers waiting on us are lucky because we don’t tip based on performance- we tip based on fair trade and always “round up” to 20% because we realize that nearly no one else will.

  

 
Our mini me twins, Maryssa and Makenna Mahaney are also “opposites.”  Maryssa loves makeup- Makenna hates it.  Makenna loves pizza-Maryssa doesn’t.  Maryssa loves dressing up-Makenna doesn’t. 

 Cindy has all three of her grandchildren and both of her adult daughters aka “Boomerang Kids” living in her home and gets some of her best material for #cindyisms from all of the arguing going on under her roof.  For an insight of her hilarious home life, read this-Cindy Daniel Turns Drama Into Humor At The DanielDivaDiggs!  

My sister tells it like it is and the chaos of all the people arguing often has her running to my home to “catch a break.”  Cindy is pretty funny while being brutally honest.  I tend to be the peacemaker when her home life gets the best of her.

You get the point- just because twins look alike doesn’t mean they act alike!  My twin is a country twin and I’m a city twin. Makenna is serious and driven at school-Maryssa could care less and loves to have fun.

   
  
We are already making plans to rent an RV and drive to Twinsburg, Ohio for our very first twin convention and I’m planning to bring a coffee pot to get around the “fresh coffee” issue while traveling because wherever I go (unless it’s Starbuck’s) the coffee won’t be fresh enough for my sister! 

Makenna likes sweat tea and Maryssa loves Coke but finding sweat tea won’t be easy so we are bringing our own!  All of our twin friends are planning their costumes and schedules with us so this will be fun.  Traveling across country with my entire family in an RV?  
Perhaps not.

Having my often “feuding” family on board for a five day holiday, I already know a fight over the bathroom or beds is going to happen but, I’m optimistic regarding the close quarters.  

Cindy lives with her daughters and granddaughters so she has a “first hand” idea of what this trip will be like since Leigh Ann and Stephaney have already complained about Bentley joining us and think this adorable dog stinks.   

I think adding Bentley to the brood was the best decision Cindy has made yet because her husband and the twins love him to pieces and he’s far calmer than my dog Foxy who will be staying home with my husband who has decided not to join the circus on the RV.

My husband hates drama and arguing as well as vacations.  A few years ago, we flew to Florida for our anniversary and everything went wrong from the rental car to a cold front coming in and both of us getting sick.  Matthew has decided that staying home beats the heck out of traveling!

 

The twins still get on each other’s nerves but they will eventually “grow out of it” because that’s what we did.  Bickering usually ends around 16 or 18 years old when twins finally stop competing. 

    
  Now that Little Madyson is walking and Cindy’s family have adopted a rescue dog- this road trip is sure to have a few successes and setbacks much like our yearlong weight loss journey to lose 40lbs each.

Family vacations are always full of drama and good times and let’s face it- everyone wants their vacation to be fun filled when often it’s more drama filled with three adult children and three grandchildren complaining about this or that.

Cindy and I are “going in” knowing that while the kids may argue or tell us that they are bored-we are rolling on to Twinsboro and excited to finally meet the friends we’ve followed on FB and Twitter for years.

Keeping my schedule open for the first week of August won’t be easy but we tried to make it last year and wound up working instead so I’m willing to “miss a few gigs” in order to spend time with my family and listen to my sister ask for fresh coffee.  

Eight family members and a dog are sure to bring some “good old family fun” and give Cindy and I the opportunity to roll our eyes when we hear the usual complaints while seeing the countryside.  

We are planning to stop in Memphis at The Peabody and visit Elvis Presley Museum too.  I think the twins would love a museum but what do I know?  

Just because I love museums doesn’t mean anyone else will but I took a trip there years ago and loved my stay at the Peabody and visit to Graceland.  I’m hoping the twins will enjoy it but know my twin will because we love Elvis!

  

Although Madyson won’t remember our road trip years from now, I’m hoping the Little Pawners will enjoy the fun and adventure as much as we do.  

We’ve not ever taken an RV road trip before so this one will be going in my book because I know that there will be a lot of laughs with my copilot and best friend, Cindy!

Wendy M Wortham