A FEW weeks ago, the carafe to my coffee pot broke. Most of you are probably thinking, “Big deal. Buy a replacement.” Why yes, a replacement carafe – a simple solution to a simple problem.

Except not quite.

You see, the fractured carafe kicked off a lengthy discussion between me and my fiance, Justin, about the type of replacement coffee pot our home should employ.

My first mistake was posting my dilemma on Facebook. “My coffee carafe just broke!” I facebooked frantically. “OMG … hyperventilating!” Several friends immediately responded by suggesting I replace my carafe-style coffee pot with one of those new, fancy-pants single serve coffee pots like a Keurig or Tassimo.

My mind flashed to the multiple boxes of ground coffee stored away in my cabinet. I knew I needed to use special disk inserts on the fancy single cup coffee machine-thereby rendering my current coffee collection useless-so immediately I attempted to put the kibosh on this idea. Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer the coffee makers that brew 10 cups at once so I can bask in all that glorious coffee I get to drink.

As I typed my response to my friends, Justin decided this was an appropriate time to inform me that he liked the single-cup coffee makers. In fact, he actually preferred them over the carafe-style coffee pots. He pointed out the coffee pot he’d been using (before I corrected the situation with a carafe pot) was a single-cup style, although changing a setting allowed the pot to make two travel-sized mugs simultaneously.

His old coffee pot is not the same as new disk-style coffee makers. His still requires the use of ground coffee and filters, but the dual filters on opposite sides of the pot allow you to make two different flavors. For instance, he can have caffeinated coffee while I make half-caf for myself, but they will brew at the same time. Maybe his coffee pot serves as somewhat of a “bridge” to the newer, single cup models but it’s much closer to the style I prefer.

“Why don’t we put one of those single-cup kinds on our wedding registry?” he suggested.

I turned up my nose. Not that we have a closed number of spots on our registry, but I didn’t want to waste a spot on that, for fear that someone would actually buy it for us. “I don’t like those kinds,” I pouted.

“Your friend has one. She made us really good cappuccinos when we were there,” he pressed.

Well, yeah, those were pretty good, but everything tastes better when someone else does all the work. And besides, did he take stock in Keurig or something? “But you only get one cup. I don’t want to have to change out the disks every time I want some more coffee,” I complained. “What if I want to top off my current cup? I like walking into the kitchen and seeing a full pot of coffee.”

Justin looked at me as if I had toucans growing out of my ears. Clearly he failed to see this situation as I did. Wisely, he remained quiet.

That still didn’t solve the problem of what to do in the interim. The shower is still about two months away-way too long to go without a coffee pot. And I’d go broke shelling out money at Tim Hortons or Starbucks every morning for coffee. So obviously, all signs pointed to purchasing a frugal replacement.

Unfortunately, I had one of those “free” coffee pots that came with my subscription to a European coffee shop. Therefore, I wasn’t so sure finding a replacement carafe would be that easy. And in pricing various carafes, I noticed that a lot of them cost more than half of what I’d pay for an entirely new coffee pot.

For a few days, we used Justin’s two-cup model. I pouted. He attempted to wax philosophic about the great world of single-cup, disk coffee makers, and how wonderful it would be to bring one into our home. I refused to buy into it.

The only thing I was buying into? A new coffee pot, complete with carafe. Thank you, Mr. Coffee, for keeping coffee making comfortable and easy. I know I won’t have to call NASA to figure out what’s wrong with you if you stop working-I’ll just replace you because you don’t cost hundreds of dollars. Plus, I still get to enjoy all my over-priced, flavored European coffee. It’s a win-win!

Sadly, we put a single-cup, space shuttle-looking model coffee pot on our registry. Justin really seems to like those things, although I don’t know how much I’ll warm up to the idea. And the kitchen isn’t big enough for TWO coffee pots. I wonder who will win “Battle Coffee Pot?”

In the meantime, I’m sticking to my guns on this. Much like my father still insists on using a percolator-style coffee pot, I will hold on to the glass carafe style like grim death. I pick just ONE flavor in the morning and then stick with my decision. I refuse to conform to the single-cup world.