diff --git a/server/database.ts b/server/database.ts
index 3133c9c..7ba2438 100644
--- a/server/database.ts
+++ b/server/database.ts
@@ -5,25 +5,23 @@ import { generateDemoSchedule } from "./generate-demo-schedule";
 // For this demo I'm just storing the runtime data in JSON files. When making
 // this into proper application this should be replaced with an actual database.
 
-const schedulePath = "data/schedule.json"
-const subscriptionsPath = "data/subscriptions.json"
+const schedulePath = "data/schedule.json";
+const subscriptionsPath = "data/subscriptions.json";
 
-export async function readSchedule() {
-	let schedule: Schedule;
+async function readJson<T>(filePath: string, fallback: T) {
+	let data: T extends () => infer R ? R : T;
 	try {
-		schedule = JSON.parse(await readFile(schedulePath, "utf-8"));
+		data = JSON.parse(await readFile(filePath, "utf-8"));
 	} catch (err: any) {
 		if (err.code !== "ENOENT")
 			throw err;
-		// Use the demo schedule if nothing is stored yet.
-		try {
-			schedule = generateDemoSchedule();
-		} catch (err) {
-			console.error(err);
-			throw err;
-		}
+		data = typeof fallback === "function" ? fallback() : fallback;
 	}
-	return schedule;;
+	return data;
+}
+
+export async function readSchedule() {
+	return readJson(schedulePath, generateDemoSchedule);
 }
 
 export async function writeSchedule(schedule: Schedule) {
@@ -31,15 +29,8 @@ export async function writeSchedule(schedule: Schedule) {
 }
 
 export async function readSubscriptions() {
-	let subscriptions: PushSubscriptionJSON[];
-	try {
-		subscriptions = JSON.parse(await readFile(subscriptionsPath, "utf-8"));
-	} catch (err: any) {
-		if (err.code !== "ENOENT")
-			throw err;
-		subscriptions = [];
-	}
-	return subscriptions;;
+	let subscriptions = await readJson<PushSubscriptionJSON[]>(subscriptionsPath, []);
+	return subscriptions;
 }
 
 export async function writeSubscriptions(subscriptions: PushSubscriptionJSON[]) {