To a T ...

Melusina recently reminisced about that quintessential Southern drink -- iced tea. Two quick notes:

1. Some Southerners INSIST that the drink is called ICE tea (no "d") and that only transplants to the region would stick that extraneous letter on the end. These transplants probably are the same ones who think cornbread should have sugar in it. Personally, I have no opinion on the ice/iced controversy, though the sugar in the cornbread thing is just wrong. Maybe not as wrong as the DH in baseball, but it's up there.
2. I do realize that some Southerners might have a higher opinion of another Southern drink -- one concocted by Mr. Beam or Mr. Daniel or ... They have a strong point, but which would you have an easier time finding in New York City: a shot of Jack or a cold glass of sweet tea?

Anyway, back to the tale. Melusina was complaining about her difficulties in getting iced (or ice) tea in Greece. Sorry, Mel, but you ARE living in another country you know! So anyway, Mel's story reminded me of a "foreign country" iced tea story of my own and I thought I'd share.

If you're a regular reader of 3rd B, you know (at least indirectly) my long-time friend, Ang. Well one year in grad school, Ang had the semester from hell. She decided to do an internship thing in Washington, D.C. I won't go into all the details (feel free to contribute if you want, Ang), but let's just say it wasn't a pleasant experience. Of course THE bright spot (I'm sure) of the whole semester was when her dear friend, St. Caffeine, decided to use his spring break to pay her a visit. Though I'm sure we did lots of culturally edifying stuff, what I remember most is a meal we ate one night at one of those casual sit down chains -- T.G.I. Friday's, Ruby Tuesday, ...

As I recall, the three of us (Ang's roommate came along) decided to go out to dinner. As is fairly standard the waiter stopped by take our drink orders. Though Ang herself is (was) a DEDICATED Coca-Cola drinker, at least two of us ordered tea and at least one ordered UNSWEET tea. Though I'm sure our accents eventually would have revealed our origins, the minute he heard someone specify UNSWEET tea, he knew where we hailed from. Though I guess I knew Northerners didn't consume sweet tea and there was no reason to specify unsweet, force of habit made me stick that adjective onto my drink order.

Regardless, being a good waiter (i.e., a tip whore) the guy tried to bond with us. He told us all about how he spent a summer way down south -- in Virginia I believe. Now Virginia certainly is an Old South state, but it's not the same South as AL and MS so his bonding wasn't very successful. Still, he was trying. His master stroke, though, was when he brought our drinks to the table. The idiot had put what appeared to be several bushels of mint sprigs in our tea! Everyone knows that Southerners put mint in their tea, right? NO, WE DON'T! Sure, if you're at the Kentucky Derby or some posh country club event some mint might slip into your drink, but that's mostly for appearance sake. Real ice tea does not have a shaggy layer of mint floating in the glass. Oh well, he tried. I seem to recall we rewarded his attempt with a larger than normal tip, though Ang wasn't rolling in dough that semester and I was living on a less than luxurious stipend myself so I'm not sure just how generous we were. By D.C. standards, I figure not much. Oh well, WE tried.

So, Mel, even if you get ice/iced tea in a "foreign" country it may not be what you're used to. Ang, if you remember things differently and you want to bust me for poetic excess, feel free. Other than that, just trying to get through final exams.