In Burgaw, N.C. there are three local newspapers. Well, technically one of them is for the entire Topsail area (Topsail Voice), but it, along with the other two (The Pender Post and Pender Chronicle) covered the same media event about tax revaluations with nearly identical photos!

I bought all three (plus a StarNews) and headed downtown to sniff out anything resembling a coffee shop so I could get my journalism on. Three stories and three photos all on the same event!? This was going to be like a self-led journalism workshop attended by me and led by me – essentially, I had found the perfect way to pass my remaining two hours in this town.

But the coffee shop downtown is out of coffee, so now I’m stuck in the car, juggling papers and drinking Sun Drop. I swear when the snobby lady said there was no coffee (as if I was crazy for expecting there to be coffee at a coffee shop!) my mouth had the subtle flavor of deep-fried disappointment.

Don’t get me wrong…I love Sun Drop, but how the fuck does a coffee shop not have coffee? That’s inconceivable, right?

What’s that? Almost as inconceivable as me being in Burgaw for two hours on a Tuesday?

This is how my life works…get used to it. I have and it feels awesome.