the "water cup"

Indulge me here, please.

JUST BECAUSE I choose to drink water at a restaurant, does that mean I should get a smaller, crappier cup in which to drink it? Does it mean I'm any less thirsty than the person who chooses to drink dehydrating sodas or the person who feels compelled to pay almost $2 for an iced tea? NO it does not. In fact, if I want to drink water, does that perhaps mean that I may be--gasp--thirstier than the person drinking Dr. Pepper?

A Remedy: I have started asking for a "regular" cup when ordering water. Today, for example, Jesse and I were at Lenny's. Upon checking out, she reached for a cup much like the one pictured above.

I made kind of an get-in-on-my-secret type expression, and said, "oooh, do you mind if I have one of these regular cups? I promise I'll only get water..."

she hesitated: "ooh, do you promise? you know, we have police who eat lunch here..." (funny, eh?)

me: "ooh, I promise. I just want to take the cup with me." (thinking: those clear cups are so junky how can anyone use it more than once!)

Usually I do not meet with this much resistance when asking for a "regular" cup. I actually consume so much water (really non-alcoholic liquid in general) that the refill ratio of clear "water" cup vs. "regular" cup is probably 4:1. I know this sounds extreme.

And yes, it's understandable why a restaurant would want to give clear cups to supposed water drinkers (or Sprite drinkers too, let's be honest)... but this does not mean the cups themselves should be smaller. And that much smaller, at that!

Those who choose to properly hydrate should not be penalized.