"Sparkling, tap, or still?"
As someone who eats lunch with people professionally, I tend to take a sociological approach to the whole restaurant experience. I'm constantly looking for insights into people based on their dining behaviors. There's the obvious stuff, like whether someone is rude to a waiter (kiss of death, as far I'm concerned; a near-fatal character flaw), as well as more subtle indications, like how long a person looks at a menu (quick look = decisive, in command, well-organized) and how many special instructions they give when ordering (two or more = self-centered).
But I've never quite figured out the water test. In my experience, bottled water does not reliably correlate with trendiness, health-consciousness or wealth. And tap water doesn't connect to frugality or modesty, either, especially since many people who choose it end up leaving it untouched.
For my part, I'm not even consistent about which option I choose, though it's almost never "still" -- the choice, for me, is all about bubbles.
I was pretty much monogamous by the time the question started to be asked regularly, so I haven't had the chance to test it out in a dating pool. (R., being from Iowa, is a pretty consistent tap water guy, though he drinks the bubbly stuff when I order it.)
Anyway, the question presented itself at a lunch interview this afternoon and, since I was the first one to arrive, I had to make the water call on my own. I went with tap, but then felt weird about it through the whole interview, since the question never came up again and the guest was pretty much locked in to my choice. If any of the big etiquette experts have weighed in on this question, I've missed it. Is there a proper water choice when entertaining?
Comments
I'm glad to read that you married a Iowa Boy. They're all fine gentlemen but I hope he has roots out on the farm. Of course I am a bit prejudiced as I also am a Iowa Boy (from the farm) who married a Iowa Girl and we ended up in Illinois. I'll check back from time to time to see how everything is in the city.
Posted by: Bill Bangston | May 16, 2006 09:32 PM
You're kidding, right?
With all the serious issues in the world (that you sometimes write about) you want us to actually spend brain time thinking about this?
PICKETT replies: No, I'm not suggesting you spend brain time on it, if you haven't already. But if, like me, you're the sort of person who has a thought and then has trouble just letting it go, you might have spent time (involuntarily) on this one.
Sadly, I never figured out how to throw the "lofty thoughts only" switch.
Posted by: Dave | May 17, 2006 07:16 AM
Debra,
I can put your mind to rest; I am the interviewee from yesterday and at no point did I feel slighted with the water choice. I had no idea that a choice had even been made on my behalf. When I arrived, I was just happy to see a cool, crisp glass of tap ice water ready for me to quench my thirst in anticipation of our upcoming conversation.
As I have made eating one of my favorite habits well beyond the utilitarian need to eat, I too am fascinated by the water choice. If I am at a super high end restaurant, I go for bottled still water. My wife generally thinks I’m nuts for choosing the bottled still water but I have a pretty good reason. I have come to realize that bottled still water is served chilled without ice. Tap water is generally severed with ice. I find that the ice can actually affect my palate and reduce my ability to taste the subtle nature of the food and the accompanying wine. These meals tend to span hours and I find that I drink a fair amount of delicious, palate friendly bottled still water. But in the end the bottled choice only comes into play at very special places where the staff has gone to extraordinary lengths to try to give me a myriad of taste sensations that shouldn’t be diminished by freezing my tongue. The rest of the time, you can’t beat an ice cold glass of tap ice water which I usually only take a few sips from before the meal starts. I then tend to switch to what ever soft drink or wine I am ordering.
Finally, as for the bubbles, I find that on occasion when I am in Europe I tend to drink more sparking water there than I do here in the here states. I guess this is because sparkling water is very much available in Europe at all types of restaurants. I like a good glass of “water with gas�, as they call it, with casual meals in place of a soft drink for example.
Having gone on about all of that I believe there is one additional consideration that needs to be mentioned. If I am being graciously treated to a nice meal as you treated me yesterday, I automatically leave the water choice and all other choices of indulgence to the host and when appropriate, follow the host's lead. This may yet be another dining behavior to consider in your sociological view of the dinning experience.
Well in any event I very much enjoyed our conversation yesterday. Thanks for lunch and the absolute perfect water choice!
Posted by: Larry Hodgson | May 17, 2006 11:25 AM
Larry is a little scary. Was he like this over lunch?
PICKETT replies:
No, not scary at all. Just as much as an obsessive as I am. Wait . . . is that scary?
Posted by: Vic | May 18, 2006 11:29 PM