How I Became the Office Coffee Hero (Without Even Drinking the Stuff)

Back in January, disaster struck our office. Not a server crash or a security breach—something even more disruptive to morale: the coffee machine broke.

An email went out from the employee responsible for it, explaining that the machine was no longer under warranty and they’d be ordering a replacement. Unfortunately, the new model would come with a serious downgrade: no direct water line. Instead, it would have a reservoir that needed to be filled manually—an inconvenience we hadn’t suffered in years. As someone who doesn’t even drink coffee, this wasn’t my crisis—but I could see it was a big deal for others.

Curious, I went to check out the machine. A coworker told me it had been spraying water all over the counter, so she turned off the water line. I peeked behind it and found the setup: a copper pipe feeding into a filter, then a rubber line running to the back of the machine. And right there, I spotted the issue—a broken elbow quick-connect fitting.

A quick online search showed a compatible part for just five bucks, available at my local hardware store. I emailed back the original sender and said, “Hey, I think I can fix this.” She gave me the green light, so after work I picked up the part and installed it the next day.

No more waterworks. The coffee machine was back to pulling water like a champ. I asked a coworker to test it, and she confirmed the coffee tasted just right. The machine, an older but premium Keurig model, was spared from retirement—and our team was spared from downgrade-induced despair.

But that wasn’t quite the end of the story.

A week or two later, the coffee coordinator stopped by my office and said, “I thought you fixed it.” Apparently, something was still wrong—but it wasn’t a water line issue. I showed her that water flowed just fine. So I dug deeper, found a service manual, and followed a guide that involved a paperclip and a bit of disassembly. (No, really.) A few pokes and flushes later, the clog was gone.

She made a cup of coffee—and immediately lunged at me for a grateful hug.

Moral of the story? Sometimes the most satisfying problems to solve at work aren't in your job description. And even if you’re not a coffee drinker, helping keep the caffeine flowing earns you hero points in any office.