I stopped by my favorite Mexican food drive-thru
restaurant last week and ordered a small rice.
"I'm sorry" the voice said, "We don't have Slice." "No, I want
rice." I replied.
The voice said, "Oh, I'm sorry, we dont have Sprite either."
I was starting to get a little
exasperated. "Not Slice. Not Sprite. Rice, R-I-C-E." The voice apologetically replied, "Oh, I'm sorry, we don't have RC Cola
either."
I could feel my blood pressure rising and my face turning red.
Then,
it struck me just how ridiculous this whole thing was. "No, No, No" I laughed. "I don't want a drink. I want rice. You know,
rice? R-I-C-E. Rice."
"Ma'am", the voice angrily responded, "We don't have Slice. We don't have Sprite. We don't have
RC Cola. We just have Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, root beer and 7Up".
At this point, I threw back my head and roared with laughter.
The voice did not find this amusing. Through my peals of laughter I heard it sarcastically say "Hel-uh-oh? Are you, like,
there?"
Taking a deep, determined breath I tried again. "I want rice. Mexican rice. It's orange. It's a grain. It's
called rice. It's not a drink. It's something you eat. You eat it with a fork. Rice. R-I-C-E. RICE!"
"Ohhhhh" the voice
answered. "You want a side of rice." "Yes, yes that's it, a side of rice."
What a relief! "Will that be all?" the voice inquired. "Would you
like anything else with your rice?"
"Oh yes", I politely responded, "I'd like a small Slice please".
