Water, Water, Everywhere -- Except in Restaurants

Is It Just Me, or are restaurant customers who prefer to drink water getting short shrift these days? Time was when servers set a glass of water in front of patrons almost before they sat down. That came to a screeching halt a few years back when a serious drought hit most of the country. Restaurant owners told customers that for conservation purposes, glasses of water would no longer be automatic -- but if anyone wanted it, all they had to do was ask.

The drought has long since come and gone and so, apparently, has the water. With the exception of upscale eateries, it's a rare occasion when a server brings me a glass when he or she greets me and asks to take my beverage order. Honestly, that's okay with me.

But I also know that if I want water, I'll have to ask to get it -- and that's not.

Fact is, many, many restaurant customers never touched those glasses of water that were put in front of them all those years, resulting in considerable waste of a precious commodity as well as wasted time and energy delivering them, removing them from the table and putting the glasses through the dishwasher. So it makes economic and ecological sense not to serve up what isn't wanted. Where I take issue, though, is where is it written that suddenly it's the customer's responsibility to ask for it? Is it really such an imposition for the server to ask me if I'd like water with my meal? Isn't that why it's called customer service?

You see, I don't believe that restaurant owners are all that worried about waste; their real concern is that if we have water to drink, we won't buy an additional beverage -- the watered-down soda, beer or mixed drinks on which the profit margin is substantial. That belief is substantiated by another fairly recent phenomenon: if water is the only beverage you order, the chances you'll get a refill without begging for it are somewhere between slim and none.

This is an issue on which I've done considerable personal research, by the way. Over the past two or three years, I've become sort of a nut when it comes to water. I drink loads of it every day, and I've come to prefer it with meals when we eat out. Admittedly, part of the latter has come from the exhorbitant prices on other drinks -- having to spend $3.50 and up for a bottle of beer truly negates the pleasure I'd get by drinking it. Thanks, but I'll buy it by the case and have an after-dinner drink when I get home. But mostly, I prefer it because it's the tastiest, and healthiest, beverage there is.

What I've learned over these years is this: on only one occasion -- one -- have I ever had a glass of water refilled when water is my only beverage (and we eat out at least twice a week). That lone experience, for the record, came at a local Bob Evans restaurant -- and it's never happened before or since, there or elsewhere.

It gets worse. I've lost count of the times a server has asked my husband if he wants a refill for his half-empty glass of soda -- multiple times, even -- while my water glass stands empty. I still haven't figured out the logic to this -- do they think that pointedly ignoring me or forcing me to ask for a refill on a free beverage somehow will embarrass me so much I'll be sure to buy one next time? Sorry, but it doesn't work that way; relegating me to second-class customer status only strengthens my resolve to stick with the free stuff (and avoid eating at this restaurant again).

Hey, it's just my observation. Is It Just Me?

Here I Go: Is It Just Me?

I like to think I'm a reasonable person. I get along with most people (and am pretty good at ignoring the few I can't stand). I've held a number of responsible jobs, from executive secretary to university administrator to newspaper editor. I'm a college graduate with two-year, four-year and post-graduate degrees. While I tend to lean close toward the liberal side of the political continuum, I consider myself to be an independent, objective thinker whose decisions are based on collection, and careful consideration, of all the pros and cons. My husband of 45 years hasn't left home yet, and our two children and four grandchildren are still speaking to me (all as of this writing).

That said, like most folks, things I've seen on TV, read about in the newspaper or experienced in my own comings and goings conjure up strong emotions and opinions -- sometimes positive, sometimes negative. And when that happens, it almost always causes me to wonder if I'm the only one. Are other people feeling the same way, or Is It Just Me?

That's what this blog is all about. Every so often, I'll sound off about what's bothering me (or making me happy), whether it's local, regional or national. If you agree, or if you don't, feel free to point your family, friends and neighbors to my blog -- and let me know how you feel as well. I'll emphasize up front, though, that my opinions are simply that -- my opinions. You're entitled to disagree, but if your comments come anywhere near crossing the line of decency, they're toast.

Stay tuned!