Thank you for your eulogy for my addiction, susanc. Very kind. Were the waitpersons really knowingly bringing you Diet Pepsi instead of regular? Heathen barbarians. Although I now grudgingly drink it, the cloying sweetness of diet soda must figure prominently in one of the circles of Hell. For someone to deliberately substitute your judgment and bring you what they think you “want” or “need” rather than what you asked for, would be infuriating. I myself have waited plenty of tables, and I’m sure I have at times innocently mixed up one person’s cola with another one’s diet cola. I’ve always had a problem with distinguishing between the two visually after it has settled in the glass.
And since I can’t have the fruit sugars either, something like my homemade ginger ale (which is like being served angel ambrosia) is out because of the sugar and the lime juice.
And sweet tea is now dead to me forever. I’ve tried to make it with artificial sweetener (which is a hanging offense in Georgia) and it just isn’t the same. Goodbye mint juleps and Sazaracs. The adjectives “hearty,” “rich” and “creamy” have also largely disappeared. While I do find pleasure in lean grilled meat and fresh vegetables, many of my favorite foods and drinks are gone, because if I can’t make them the way they were meant to be, I’m not going to try to console myself with shallow substitutes. Some things were just meant to be bold, vibrant and full of flavor. I’d rather leave Queen Latifah forever than live on with Paris Hilton.