Coke and not water

People are funny. Funny things happen. I like funny stories, especially if they are real. This is one of them.

Not too long into the beginning of our relationship, Jeromy and I visited a quaint little Vietnamese restaurant in our little (minus the quaint) county. I really wasn't a fan of Asian food until I met Jeromy. I can seriously count on one hand the number of times I had ever eaten at an Asian restaurant B.J. (Before Jeromy). And La Choy chow mein doesn't count. My mom made me eat it. I highly dislike water chestnuts.

Once Jeromy and I started dating I quickly developed a taste for Asian food, and now we regularly make dishes like Thai curry chicken and other types of stir fly. (If only we had registered for that wok at BB&B!) Thai is our favorite, bar none. Jeromy is the curry freak. I'll eat it, but the fish sauce gives me horrible nausea. I'm a less traditional Asian food lover. I won't get anywhere near menu items that include duck, rabbit, sushi, or squid. I always make sure they leave the onions off my Pad Thai (I enjoy water chestnuts better than onions...texture, texture!). Regardless, Jeromy is a well-rounded fellow when it comes to international cuisine, and it has since rubbed off on me. Although, he can keep his predilection for Indian food! He will have to work on me a little longer for that one.

Upon arriving at the Hot Noodle, the hostess proceeded to seat us in their signature high-backed booths (go privacy!), and we began to scour the menu for something to drink. Normally Jeromy and I order water whenever we eat out, just because it saves on both the bill and tip, and besides that the natural thirst quencher always wins over less healthy varieties like pop (yes, I'm from the Midwest, but West Virginians also say pop, so I learned from marrying one!), which we rarely consume.

This particular evening, however, Jeromy couldn't resist the option of ordering a tall glass of coconut water. The Vietnamese place serves it with actual chunks/shavings of coconut floating in the beverage. I tried it and it's pretty good, though not very sweet. We decided on drinks and waited for our server, setting in for a romantic evening of looking longingly into each other's eyes (oh, the days before sitting on the same side of the booth!).

Our server never came.

Now, there are two kinds of servers in this world (rarely have we encounter a balanced exception): "Annoying Little Sister", the stops-by-your-table-and-asks-how-you're-doing-every-30-seconds server, who asks how the food tastes before you have time to take a single bite. And then we have "Houdini", the-takes-your-order-and-disappears-into-the-night (or falls into a boiling vat of "Tom Ka Gai") server, who brings your food and bill at the same time. Well, that night we endured a big bag of tricks from the latter.

Moments before severe dehydration set in, we managed to flag Mr. Houdini to our table. (He finally noticed our cartwheels and jumping jacks from the other side of the room.) Although barely able to talk due to his poor parched throat, Jeromy managed to request his favorite beverage.

We enjoyed a few more minutes of beautiful company, complete with much under the table hand-holding.

Miracle of miracles, Houdini was back in a flash, holding up a tall, refreshing glass of....Coke?

"No, no...I'm sorry, " Jeromy tried to be polite. "I actually asked for coconut water."

"Oooooh. Ok! Be back." Even Houdini fails once in a while.

*Resume more googly-eye hand-holding.*

Houdini returned. And you wouldn't believe it, holding another glass of Coke! But...without ice.

We looked at each other in confusion. What was up with this guy? They must receive orders for dozens of glasses of coconut water every day.

"Uh, sir, I wanted COCONUT water." Jeromy tried a third time. "Cooooconu-----waaaaait a minute. No, no, no, I DON'T want Coc-a-cola with or without ice. I want co-co-nut wa-ter."

So that was it! Houdini thought Jeromy wanted Coke, and then he thought the "not water" part meant no ice! Coke and not water!

Jeromy finally received the real coconut water as requested, but we are still scratching our heads trying to figure out how a server at an Asian restaurant could mistake "coke and not water" for the novel coconut water! The events of this dinner date has since turned into a running joke between us, especially the few times Jeromy actually does order a Coke -- and not water!