Star Trekkin'

So the other morning I was working when a couple came in and asked for some Kona coffee. Working at a coffee shop in Hawaii, one wouldn't think this to be a terribly strange request since Kona is a local favorite, however most people back out of their order when they discover that it costs $8.60 for the press pot. This couple however didn't seem to have any problems with it and settled in for the 5-10 minute wait it would take to brew.

Things were pretty slow at the time so as the Kona was steeping I struck up a conversation with them. The exchange went something like this,

"So where are you folks headed today?"
"Oh," said the man. "We're headed up to, uh, somewhere on the north western side of the island I think. We're going to be doing some diving."
"Scuba?" I inquired.
"Yeah," said the woman.
"Business or pleasure?" I asked
"Well, both actually," he said.
"How's that?" I asked. "Are you marine biologists or something?"
"No, not really," the man replied. "We have a company that introduces people who are really into science fiction and space exploration to scuba diving. Since being under water is the closest thing to weightlessness that you can get, we find that it's a great way to get people out into the real world and living their fantasies."

I laugh a little, because it's the coolest thing I've heard in quite some time. "That's. Awesome," I say and mean it whole heartedly. The vision of overweight Trekkies jelly-fishing around underwater in search of new life and new civilizations is enough to make me collapse in fits of merriment. Why hadn't I thought of something like that myself? As I wondered how silicon Spock ears would hold up in salt water the conversation steered in other directions and before long their coffee was finished and we parted ways.

The next day I was working the register again when the same man came in with the two cups he had purchased the day before and set them down on the counter.
"That Kona worked out really well yesterday," he says. "Let's do it again."
"Alright!" I say with a smile and ring him up.

As he fishes for his money I notice that his shirt has this logo on it. "Hey," I say remembering his Trekkie scuba business from the day before "That's awesome! It's like Star Trek!"
"Yeah," he says almost sheepishly. "My dad invented Star Trek."

Silence.

"Your dad invented Star Trek?" I repeated back to him raising an eyebrow. "Well that's one I haven't heard today. 'My dad invented Star Trek.'" I chuckle and take his money.  

"Yeah, well, I loved scuba before I knew anything about Star Trek," he says. I laugh wondering if that could be even remotely true since PADI's age requirement is 10 and NAUI's age requirement is 12, but knowing that I wouldn't want to be defined by the the accomplishments of a famous parent myself, I decided to let it be. "That's really cool," I say laughing. We chat about scuba for a little while longer and then part ways. "I'm totally going to google him when I get home," I think to myself as he leaves.

For one reason or another I didn't. The next morning there he was again like clock work. He puts his cups down, I ring up his Kona, and we chat. "So how was your dive yesterday?" I ask. "It was good!" He says. "When are you guys headed out?" "Oh, tomorrow," he replies. "That's a bummer!" I say, "We'll be sad to see you go!" and I mean it. He really has been the most interesting customer I've had in awhile. Well, other than Jonah the dreadlocked landscaper, but we'll talk about him later.

"Hey, do you have a card?" I ask as he's getting ready to go. "I want to look you up and see what your business is all about." "Sure!" he says whipping out his wallet and handing over his card. I take a brief glance and tuck it into my back pocket. "Thanks!" I say. "No problem," he replies smiling.

As he fixes up his coffee a few minutes later at the bar he catches my attention and says, "Hey, you know you should really get SCUBA certified. That way next time we're in town we can take you out diving with us!" My eyes turn into little gum drop buttons. "Yes, " I say. "I will DEFINITELY look into that."  He waves and smiles. "Bye Eugene! We'll see you later." I say.

Later that day I pulled his card out of my pocket. On one side it read, "Eugene "Rod" Roddenberry, President, Dive Master" on the other side it read "Eugene "Rod" Roddenberry, President, CEO"

"Oh gosh..." I said out loud, smacking myself on the forehead "I called him 'Eugene'..."