growing up i used to go the the comedy & magic club in hermosa beach all the time. you could get in if you were underage but since there was a two drink minimum they would stamp the opposite hand with a different stamp and color to make it widely unmistakable that you were a kid. while i had no problem with not getting any alcohol (water or soda was just fine for me. albeit quite a rip at $5 a pop) i didnt like being labeled a kid. another method of flagging the kids was to put straws in all their drinks. i got into the habit of removing my straw with every drink that came (normally just the required two. did you know $5 water tastes just like $0.35 water?). my friends got used to the site of me pulling out my straws. it was merely an attempt to look older. why? why not? ever since then i have not used straws whenever i can help it.

so tonight i was at a mexican restaurant. the food was particularly spicy. it was great. of course, with spicy food comes lots of drinking to put out the fire. i was putting down diet pop like no other. i didnt notice until maybe the 2^nd or 3^rd refill that the guy kept bringing out the drink with a straw in the drink. and if that wasnt enough he would also place an unwrapped straw next to my cola as well. by the end of the night there must have been a dozen or 14 straws lying around.

good story? i dunno. but the next time you go to dinner with me you wont have to ask.