This one really gets my goat. As many of you know, I am a man with a deep appreciation for a glass of iced tea. There might not be a finer drink in all the land, save for the vaunted Arnold Palmer, which is half iced tea anyway.
When given my glass of iced tea at a restaurant I take the time to squeeze the lemon into the glass and then mix in my sweetener (usually one Sweet-n-Lo), making what is for me the perfect drink to go with my meal. As I enjoy my drink, the waiter or waitress is no doubt watching me, waiting for the perfect moment to pounce. When maybe one quarter of the glass is gone, they swoop in and refresh the glass leaving me with a funky new glass of iced tea.
I understand that they are just doing their jobs and I appreciate the prompt service. I just wish they wouldn't sometimes. Now I am left trying to reconfigure the iced tea formula to get back to where I was before the flavor was tainted. Its like being an alchemist. Do I add 1/4 of a sweetener to get back to where I was? Then what do I do about the lemon? I don't have any more of that. Ultimately, it never works out and I am left with a imperfect tea until I can finish the whole glass and start from scratch.
I don't take this out on the wait staff or anything like that. They are doing a good job. Its just that I am the weird one. Also, I would never say to them "DO NOT refill my iced tea glass until it is completely empty!" That makes me sound like and super-jerk and I will probably get some of their special sauce in my food.
My method of dealing with this transgression manifests in one of two ways: I drink my iced tea super-fast so they can't catch me mid-glass or I just grumble silently to myself. Another method which works sometimes is to keep the glass as far away from the wait staff as possible. This normally works in a booth or against a wall. I can shield the glass from harm and then bring it out when I am ready for more. Like I said this only works some of the time. More often than not I get caught and my glass is refilled.
No don't get me wrong. I realize that this is probably not normal, but what the hell am I supposed to do? I'm a bit weird. This has even turned into a mild family joke. When my glass gets caught out in the open, my family giggles while I politely steam and then mutter an insincere "Thank you."
Does this bother anyone else or am I just a freak?
Its totes a gigglefest. You are right though. You are caught between a rock and a hard place. You would look like a dick either way. I think you deal with in as passively aggressively as you can.
ReplyDeleteFor my issue it's easy. I say, "I'd like a water with NO LEMON please." Do you like how I enunciate the "No Lemon" part. I think it sounds threatening and I like to instill fear in my wait staff, all while wanting the cute waitresses to marry you.