Friday, October 27, 2006

Fuck You, Chain Mexican Restaurant....

And no, it does not rhyme with Baco Tell.

Today, My Special Lady and I decide to have lunch together, and we decide that we have not eaten at "__________" yet, so why don't we try there ? Hey, great idea, and I'll take a side of aggravated assault with my quesadilla, please.

I'm getting ahead of myself. I won't go into too much minute detail, but let's just say that the skies were angry that day, my friends. Okay, they really weren't, but I thought it might add to the drama. It didn't though, did it ? Sorry about that.

Anyway, we order our food, and we get our self serve beverages. I see the silver sign that indicates Diet Coke, and I fill my cup. My Special Lady does the same.

We eat our food, there's spicy cheese and steak and guacamole involved, so I don't notice anything about my beverage as I drink about three quarters of it. I finish my food, and take a palate cleansing sip of my "Diet Coke". Then I help myself to another sip.

Hmmm, that's odd, that doesn't taste like Diet Coke. I decide to check with My Special Lady.

"Honey, does that taste like Diet Coke to you ?"

She takes a sip.

" No, it doesn't."

I had taken the opportunity while she was tasting her beverage to search my taste database for what that taste might be. A suspect pops up.

"It tastes like Cherry Coke, doesn't it ?"

" Yes, it does."

"I wonder if it's Diet or regular ?"

"Let's not find out by you drinking anymore."

Let me explain that comment on her part. As some of you may know, I am a diabetic, so there is a MAJOR difference between whether a soda is Diet or not.(When I was first diagnosed, my nutritionist showed me a vial that was bout 8 inches long, and maybe an inch and a half in diameter filled with sugar, and she said that that is the amount of sugar in a twelve ounce can of sugar soda. YIKES!! I still miss my Cokes.)

We were done with our food, so we went inside to investigate. Sure enough, there is a label from a labelmaker that reads Cherry Coke on the Diet Coke fountain tap. My Special Lady and I look at each other in disbelief.

"It must be DIET Cherry Coke" she says. I'm not so sure, so I decide to ask the staff.

"Can I help you guys with something ?" the two employees say in perfect unison. My Special Lady and I both point to the self serve fountain drink machine.

" The Cherry Coke that comes out of the Diet Coke tap, is that Regular Cherry Coke, or Diet Cherry Coke ?"

"It's Regular Cherry Coke."

I stare for a few seconds.

"Oh. It might be a good idea, to make that a little bit clearer, because I didn't see the Cherry Coke label, and I'm a diabetic, so that really is kind of a problem."

They both stare at me. And after a few seconds, we just turn and walk away. I hear the woman say "We're sorry about that" behind us, but I was kinda done talking to them.

Now, I am luckily a Type 2 Diabetic, and therefore not insulin dependent, and I have my sugars managed pretty well at the moment, so really I have just felt kinda crappy for the last two or three hours, but if I had been a Type 1 diabetic, there really could have been a problem, for me AND them.

So, am I being ridiculous here ? I mean, I understand that there was a label that read Cherry Coke , but that was very easy to miss, and it was the only Diet Coke tap on the fountain. Is this my carelessness, or is it reasonable for me to have thought that I was drinking Diet Coke ?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think you had every right to believe there was Diet Coke in there. However, you have to consider the quality of the help in these places. I'm sorry to sound mean, but there are a lot of incompetent people in the world. You were totally right to call them on it. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't think it improper to call the store and ask for the manager to make him aware of the problem. He may not give a damn, but it wouldn't hurt to tell him.
Hey did your Type 2 diabetes start as "insulin resistance"? I just got diagnosed with that, not diabetic now but I was told that it could happen if I don't watch my diet.

Feral Mom said...

In lieu of anything coherent:

Mmmm....cherry coke.

p.s. Glad you are OK.

Paticus said...

Sonja-Thanks.
I did not start as "insulin resistant", I actually was cluelss to my condition until I had developed nueropathy(sp ?)in my feet...That was why I went to the doctor in the first place. And by then it is pretty well progressed. But diet and excercise and my medication should keep me from being insulin dependant for some time, i was recently told that insulin is probably "inevitable" but not for 20 or 25 years if I handle things properly.
Thanks for the comment and the visit, and good luck on watching your diet, it's completely worth it(Sorry of that sounds preachy, don't mean it to be.).
Feral Mom- Thanks, I just felt crappy for a few hours.
I miss Cherry Cokes.

Avitable said...

That is ridiculous. I don't think you over-reacted at all.

Anonymous said...

The very fact that your question said, "the cherry coke that comes out of the diet coke tap" illustrates how wrong and ridiculous Baco Tell is, and how right you are/were. I'm sorry you didn't feel good as a result, but very glad that it was relatively minor.

Paticus said...

Avitable- Thanks.My (ample)gut told me I didn't overreact, but i am overly conscious of not becoming one of those people that blame the liquor for making them drink and McDonald's for making them fat, so i was a little worried that I was putting an unfair blame on those folks.

C2- Very true, very true. Thanks.