The great conspiracy.........

There's trouble brewing here at the workplace (pun intended). It would seem that there has been a sudden spike in coffee costs. I am personally not a coffee drinker, so I wouldn't know anything about the rising cost of coffee beans. But evidently, due to rising costs that are caused by a supply problem in South America, the cost of coffee has risen in recent months.

Here at work, they rely on the honor system when you drink coffee or hot chocolate (it's the individual portion packets for hot chocolate). There's a large sign in the kitchen area that says 'Coffee 20 cents, Hot Chocolate 20 cents'. They have a bucket right next to the sign where you can dump in your loose change to pay for anything you take.

So today, I walk in and head over to the kitchen area to put my lunch in the refrigerator. I look over at the sign and it has changed! It now says.......

Due to the rising cost of coffee, the prices are now...
Coffee.......30 cents
Hot Chocolate.......25 cents

So this brings a couple of thoughts to my head.
1. The price of coffee went from 20 cents to 30 cents. That's a 50% increase in price! What in the world? Are you trying to tell me that coffee prices increased 50% overnight????? I could understand an increase of 5 cents and then another increase in several months. That would imply that the cost gradually went up over time. This 10 cent price increase means one of two things. Either the person who purchases the coffee was not charging enough to cover costs for a long period of time OR the person who purchases the coffee is now making quite a tidy profit. Either way, I think there's something seedy going on behind the scenes.

2. The price of hot chocolate rose from 20 cents to 25 cents. The sign at the top distinctly says 'Due to the rising cost of coffee.....'. Someone needs to inform me how the rise in the cost of coffee beans directly affects the price of a packet of powdered hot chocolate! I have even more problems with this price increase because I can no direct relationship between the two situations.

So, in the end, I have determined exactly what is happening. Evidently the government is paying for that $2,000 toilet (retail price $300) that I use on a daily basis by overcharging for coffee and hot chocolate. It's simply the only explanation.