Working in Coffeehouses, Part 1,435

SCHOOL HAS FINISHED for The Offspring, who is now the bailiwick of her work-at-home dad. But working at home means working on the home, so Dad prefers to hightail it to coffeehouses in order to get any writing done.

The Offspring resists. She believes that one should not perch on one’s ass for hours, ingesting carbs. She just finished a term on her school’s rowing crew, and gained the sparkle of one who exercises regularly and rigorously. She wishes to continue this exercise. And she’s taken to bullying her father into joining her “at least on a walk, Dad!”

Fortunately, Dad knows how to prey upon the computer addiction she shares with her coevals (and, let’s face it, most anyone who can afford such a machine and an internet connection). He’s also getting her hooked on coffee. And so we start off today happily coffeehoused, screens aglow. She slugs a Mudslide Decaf and hasn’t yet given her father shit about the bagel he just consumed.

Next time she wants to bully him into walking with her, however, she will. Good for her.