July 22, 2008
On Free Water (A Quick Essay)
Growing up in America’s restaurants, drinking water for free always seemed like a given. I was raised with the attitude that it is my right as a customer to have water, and as much water as I want at that. Everytime I go out to eat, I fully expect a glass of water to be waiting for me at the table or that a busboy will soon be on his way with a cold glass of good old tap water. And never, I mean not once, did it ever occur to me that I was spoiled in this regard. I mean, how could someone deny me water? Right?
Well…I recently came across this post on Chowhound (a food forum) that begs a similar question and really put my skewed American attitude into perspective. A very agitated original poster wrote: “Is it legal for an eating establishment to decline free tap water to its customers?” Knowing what I know now, I would answer this question differently than I would have, say, a year ago.
So what has changed?
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