March 05, 2009

Water please?

When I go out to eat, I tend to be rather...how shall I say it...cheap?  I hate spending lots of money on something I can get cheaper at the grocery store.  Often Nancy and I will just order one meal and share.  Why pay for two meals that we will never finish?  In addition to my cheap eating out habits, I prefer to drink water.  I don't like soft drinks (soda, coke, or whatever you call them).  They are full of carbonation and sugar...bleh!  So I order water.  Just plain water.  Not even bottled water.  Just give me a glass of water.  

And wht do I get?  I get a small cup...a cup so small that I'm lucky if I get two sips of water!  I have to get up every other bite to go refill my water cup.  Panera Bread is one of the worst.  Their 'water' cups are about the size of those small cups you use to give liquid medicine to kids!  

So, why is everyone so opposed to water drinkers?  Maybe you think water drinkers don't get as thirsty?  Of course, I know the real reason.  You're punishing me for not paying for your overpriced drinks.  Well - what you are saying to me is "you don't matter to us because you happen to like water."

Every now and then I happen upon a restaraunt that will actually give me an adult sized cup of water.  To you I say "Thank you."  The rest of you?  You annoy us water drinkers.  Maybe I should just bring my own cup?

1 comment:

C. Michael Pilato said...

Congratulations on your food frugality. Amy and I aspire to this ourselves, but alas, our stomachs growl more loudly than our wallets do.

I think the Great Water Rip-Off happens for a couple of reasons. First, many places will happily charge you a small fee just for the cup they hand you to get water in. Maybe the small cups are cheaper. Secondly (and more believably), I think most places just don't trust you. They give you a special-looking, often clear (or translucent) cup, because then you can't pay (or not) for a water and then go fill up on soft drinks instead.

Of course, neither of these makes a lick of sense from a customer relations standpoint. Whether the message is "Hey, we wanna beat every last nickel out of you" or "We fully expect you to steal from us", it all fails to set the ideal tone.