A pitcher of water
Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2001 7:59 pm
I was out the other night
at a local establishment and
I asked the waitress to leave
the pitcher of water.
I'm a big guy and I drink lots
of water. Besides, I wasn't going
to order anything else to
drink and wanted to avoid the usual
dry-mouthed wait for the waitress
to realize, half-way through my dinner,
that my water was empty... and grace
me with a refilled glass.
"I can't do that," she informed me.
"Why not?" I asked.
"Because we never do that." she replied.
"Never? Not once?" I continued.
The waitress was emphatic. "Never, ever
had they left the whole pitcher of water
for just one customer. Not in the entire
history of the establishment. It was impossible.
Inconceivable! And besides, what would
happen if they set such a precedent?!?!
They would have to give everyone their own pitcher of water!"
(She was obviously distraught over the water...
I thought of rabies...)
"Why don't we try it just this once and see
if the sky really is falling." I quipped.
She nervously left the pitcher, making
certain to push it to the back of the table
out of plain sight... sort of behind the little
"table ads" they have on display.
At first I left it there... incognito.
Then, when refilling my glass the first time,
I brazenly left it sitting out for the whole
world to see.
"LOOK! I have my own whole pitcher of water!" I thought loudly enough to wake
the dead.
I left a better than average tip.
The sky didn't fall.
No one else asked for their own pitcher of water...
at a local establishment and
I asked the waitress to leave
the pitcher of water.
I'm a big guy and I drink lots
of water. Besides, I wasn't going
to order anything else to
drink and wanted to avoid the usual
dry-mouthed wait for the waitress
to realize, half-way through my dinner,
that my water was empty... and grace
me with a refilled glass.
"I can't do that," she informed me.
"Why not?" I asked.
"Because we never do that." she replied.
"Never? Not once?" I continued.
The waitress was emphatic. "Never, ever
had they left the whole pitcher of water
for just one customer. Not in the entire
history of the establishment. It was impossible.
Inconceivable! And besides, what would
happen if they set such a precedent?!?!
They would have to give everyone their own pitcher of water!"
(She was obviously distraught over the water...
I thought of rabies...)
"Why don't we try it just this once and see
if the sky really is falling." I quipped.
She nervously left the pitcher, making
certain to push it to the back of the table
out of plain sight... sort of behind the little
"table ads" they have on display.
At first I left it there... incognito.
Then, when refilling my glass the first time,
I brazenly left it sitting out for the whole
world to see.
"LOOK! I have my own whole pitcher of water!" I thought loudly enough to wake
the dead.
I left a better than average tip.
The sky didn't fall.
No one else asked for their own pitcher of water...