Water and Refills

The more I think about it the more I realize how American I have become – or maybe just even more un-German.    I like my water with plenty ice, in fact drinking pretty much anything other than hot tea and red wine not ice cold is unpleasant, let alone the idea of a Diet Coke that isn’t almost frozen.  My German friends scrunch up their faces when having American style water and can barely keep it in their mouths because it is too cold for them.

Water, all cold and free. Pic: Dreamstime

Speaking of water: I love free water in American restaurants and have come to really resent the prices for teeny weeny little bottles of sparkling water in Europe.  I feel like I am being tricked and cheated if I go to a restaurant for lunch, order what seems to be a reasonably priced, sometimes even cheap meal and then end up paying twice as much overall because the beverage costs as much as the food.  If you don’t believe me try going to a restaurant in Germany or Austria (not even talking about Switzerland where everything is outrageously expensive) on a hot summer day with a boy who just finished playing in the sun and downs two large glasses of water/juice before lunch arrives.  He eats his 5 Euro Wienerschnitzel with Pommes (French Fries) but his two large Apfelsaftschorle (apple juice with sparkling water) set you back 7 Euro.

And, behold the beauty of the common soda refill.  What a relief to be able to get another if I am still thirsty and what a relief not to have to worry about ice in the glass (which you always have to worry about in Germany because the more ice, the less beverage – so ice is not a way to increase enjoyment but a way to cheat you).

The question I frequently hear in Germany is “aren’t people abusing that system terribly?” and my answer is – after some careful reflection – always the same “not really”.  Will people get a refill if they strictly speaking don’t need it anymore and leave some?  Sure, they will.  Does it bankrupt restaurants – haven’t heard about it.  Will people drink two gallons, just because they can?  Probably not on a regular basis, although there might be a time in a teenage boy’s life where this might be something they consider – just for the heck of it and because Jack over there does it, too.

But that is a different story and has more to do with teenage boy mentality than with free sodas.