I’d like to speak to the manager!!!

It’s been 1,929 days since I drank my last Diet Coke.  Crazy HUH!

I switched to soda water, and haven’t looked back.  

Soda water has turned out to be tricky though, especially, when you are out and about.  

McDonald’s has the world’s best fountain sodas.  Period.  No matter what you are drinking, there is something magical in the formula.  The same is true when it’s just soda water.  

The hard part about soda water at McDonald’s is, first you have to convince them they have it.  It’s on the automatic dispenser.  They just don’t always know.  

Then you have to be willing to accept the charge being whatever it is.  It’s never the same amount.  Even three hours later at the same McDonald’s.  

On any given day, I can pay:  Nothing, twenty-two cents, fifty-four cents, a dollar eight, a dollar seventy-nine, or sometimes more than two dollars.  There is no rhyme or reason.  

The problem is that although it’s on the machine, it’s not in the POS, so they can trigger the automation to make it.  Often, they’ll ring in a Sprite, special prep.  Only, it’s almost always a Sprite they give you when you get to the window.  Sometimes they charge you for a tea, so that it doesn’t trigger the machine, but tea costs more and all you are getting is water.  

I’ve learned to just pay whatever they charge.  I don’t question it, even if it’s only been five minutes since I drove through the last time.  

It has gotten better since 2020 when I stopped drinking Diet Coke.  They hardly ever tell me NO anymore.  And usually, they know what to do.  But every once in a while, you’ll get a new person and then it’s anybody’s guess. 

Meanwhile, if I’m at a real restaurant, sitting down for dinner, getting a soda water is a crap shoot.  It’s become a little game that I play to see what happens.  

About 75% of the time, I get it, but it takes 15 to 20 minutes to appear.  Sometimes. It never appears.  And once I ordered it when we ordered drinks, and it arrived with dessert, with condensation on the glass, with the ice melted.  It had clearly been sitting on the bar, the whole time we’d been there.  

Once again, I never say anything.  I just patiently wait to see what happens.  Occasionally, Adam will remind them that we are waiting on a soda water, but I tend to sit back and just wait.  

I also order my soda water with no fruit.  I’m mildly allergic to citrus, and so I tend to stay away, except a few times a year, when I purposefully order a margarita or mojito.  

It hardly ever arrives with no fruit.  My favorite experience is when my Manhattan arrived with no fruit and the soda water arrived with extra limes and lemons.  

I never say a word.  Just place it on the table.  But it is funny, that this happens.  Not just occasionally, but a lot of the time, whether it’s a nice restaurant, or a diner.  

I will note that without exception, Adam’s staff at his restaurant takes  excellent  care of me.  They keep the soda filled and I never go without.  

Alas, these are the trials and tribulations of not drinking Diet Coke.  

PS.  I was told when I stopped drinking Diet Coke, my complexion would improve and I’d lose weight.  Neither of those things happened.  And canned soda water is significantly more expensive than Diet Coke cans.  

Hmmmm.  

Maybe, I should go back.