On my lunches I like to take time away from everyone. So a lot of times that means I sit in my car and toast (I luuuuv it!) and do some journaling or Bible study or something. And to avoid questions from my co-workers about how I can sit in my car like that and fry, or why I just don't use the break room, I usually drive to a big parking lot somewhere and set up camp. So today I was on my way to the Walmart parking lot, when I spied a small coffee shop in a nearby mini-mall. Perfect! I pulled over and went inside.
Two people stood behind the counter, a girl, about 16, and a guy, maybe 17 or 18. The guy was obviously in charge in some way, because he asked the girl to take care of me so that he could get some other things done during the lull (I was the only customer to be seen). No problem. All I wanted was iced tea.
$2.46. For straight iced tea? Okay. Whatever.
First the girl handed me a clear plastic cup with a bubble lid. No ice. No straw.
"You have to make it yourself over there," she said, pointing to a counter of coffee and tea accoutrements.
Weird, but okay. I thanked her, thinking that all of that was available on the counter. I turned to find still no ice and no straw. But there was a big vat of tea, and it looked cold in its metal dispenser, and I really didn't need a straw, so I just went with it.
Having lived in "the south" for over a month, I have learned that the tea doesn't always come blank when you order it. So, in my great wisdom, I drained a little tea into my cup first to test it. Sweet, of course.
"Could I maybe get some non-sweetened tea?" I called to her behind the counter.
"Um, I don't think we have any unsweetened tea," she replied, even though I was staring at a box full of fru-fru tea bags proudly displayed on the coffee counter.
"Well," I asked, "can I just use one of these and make my own and just pour it over a cup of ice?"
I had stumped her.
"Uh...okay." She took my cup from me, filled it full of ice, and handed it back to me. Then she stared at me, wondering why I wasn't going back to my seat. Maybe she thought I had planned on rubbing my tea bag on the ice cubes and licking them.
"I'll need a cup of hot water, too." I coached.
"Uh...." At this point the other boy came back into the room to save her. "Where do we get the hot water?"
"From the coffee dispenser," he replied, referring to the red spigot that comes on all industrial coffee makers for just such an occasion.
She studied the machine. "Um, here?" She asked, pointing to some other silver button. The boy walked over to the machine and introduced her to the red spigot. She walked over to the stack of cups and grabbed a clear plastic one.
Oh, dear. I mentally slapped my own forehead.
"Not a plastic one," the boy instructed. The girl didn't understand why, but she got a regular paper coffee cup anyway. She then handed it to the boy to fill, because apparently this entire circus had shut her down.
I managed to sit down, make my tea (it was fabulous - green citrus), and journal for an entire half hour without cracking myself up.
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