Confessions From the (Papal) Coffee Line

That's when the first little fight broke out. Somehow a number of Catholics had managed to get coffee from the food line. "There are people in the other line who are getting coffee! We were told to only come to this line, and we've been waiting for an hour!" shouted one woman. There was some more heated discussion, and then the servers formed a scrum behind the counter. The rules were laid out more clearly, in favor of the coffee line sufferers. "Sister, what can I get you?" offered Brinkley finally. Sister Celeste held up two fingers, but then, a bit worried she might set off a stampede, held up three fingers close to her chest and looked at me and Brinkley with a wink.

The lead voice in the first skirmish, Pam Weitz, walked toward those of us near the front standing next to Sister Celeste to say, "I apologize. My need for coffee took over. That wasn't very Christian of me. Consider this an act of contrition." One woman who had received her precious cup offered to let the others in line smell it and touch it, offering it like a relic. "Now, that is just not right," said Brinkley, laughing. A few minutes later a sneaky TV reporter was spotted at a nearby cashier, where she was handed … a cup of coffee! The wolves circled. She tried to explain that she had been in the stadium a long time and just needed some caffeine. Needless to say she was forced to give up her cup. 

Finally it was my turn. Two coffees, one for me and one for a fellow journalist sitting upstairs in the sealed-off press area (boy, did she miss out on the real action). Brinkley rang me up on her cash register, which displayed "2 X POPE FOOD." I was advised to get a bottle of Dasani water as well, since all the concession stands would soon be shuttered, because there should be no eating before mass. Plus, the water was only $2 and after mass it would go up to $4. Why? A voice behind me in line explained: "It will have been blessed."

© 2008