Saturday, April 9, 2005

Sweet Tea

One of America's finest, Mustang 23 of Assumption of Command, was kind enough to read and comment on Thursday's post. He took exception -- somewhat -- with my lumping folks that "ain't from 'round here" together. Yes, it was unfair of me, but I got two defenses for doing it:

  1. I went for the joke.

  2. Sometimes, it's true.


Anyway, his story about the Waffle House offered no clues about where it was in Georgia. Sounds like every Waffle House I've ever been in.
The first place I found after I checked in to my hotel, was a Waffle House. I soon came to find out this is not a coincidence in Georgia as there is a Waffle house every half mile. When I sat at the bar and the lady with some missing teeth (I AM NOTE JOKING HERE. Seriously, she has a smile a hockey player would love.) took my order. Next was a 90 decibel verbal assault of "Qarter Plate! Scatterd, Smattered, Smuddered, Cubberd!" In actuality she was giving my order to the cook and I was the only one in the place that thought this was weird.

Read The Whole Thing, as someone once said. He continued talking about Tea. Funny stuff. But something he said brings a response:

I took a huge gulp of what I thought was going to be a refreshing glass of Iced Tea. But instead I got this mixture that was so think of syrup and sugar that you probably had to use a paint mixer from Home depot to stir it up.

So, Mustang 23 don't care for Sweet Tea. And he don't like having to order Unsweet Tea. He called it unsweetened tea, but folks 'round here call it Unsweet Tea. Little tip for the next time you're honored to be in Georgia and feel the need to eat.

Then, he told about going to Atlanta and finding a waiter (probably with hair gel or something on his head) who, like him, considered normal Ice Tea (AKA iced tea) to be Unsweet Tea. Only thing is, he hasn't put together that he was in Atlanta.

Now, Atlanta is the capital of Georgia. Folks in Waycross thought it was "G" but it's actually Atlanta. Anyway, Atlanta may be the capital, but you could look all day and not find 20-30 people who are from Georgia. Lots of immigrants there. You know, folks from New York or California or somewhere like that.

But like I was saying, that Atlanta waiter thought like he did. But Atlanta ain't Georgia. Not really. That's why when we write it out, it's "Atlanta, Georgia." The comma is there so you'll know one ain't got nothin' much to do with the other.

Remember last election, when John Edwards did his "Two Americas" speech? I'm thinking he got it from someone in Georgia, because it's been said for years that there are two Georgias. There's Georgia. And there's Atlanta. And the reason it worked for so many politicians for so long is that there is some truth to it. I won't get into all the political fights that have gone on with Atlanta being a point of contention, but that's how it is. Right or wrong.

Anyway, he found someone from Atlanta who agreed with him that Ice Tea means Unsweet Tea. Fine. But he ain't found anyone from Georgia yet to agree with him.

And, Mustang 23, next time you're in the area, let's take in a Braves game, and I'll buy myself some Ice Tea and you some Unsweet Tea.

17 comments:

  1. basil, isn't it "aah-ce tay" (with the "ay" sound in "tea" somewhere between the long-"a" and the long-"e")? LOL

    I must admit - maybe because I'm in Virginia - that I always order "sweet tea," and the quality and sweetness always vary.... Except *gasp* at my nearest McDonald's, where they make it just right every time I've stopped by.

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  2. I don't whats up with Georgia people but apparently they need a geography lesson because as much as they don't want to have Atlanta be a part of there state let alone the capital it is and I really don't see how that'll ever change LOL.

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  3. KCNK,the geography is as it is,that's true.But down here in the Southeast,things are still fairly sovereign,if only in the minds of the locals.I know what Basil means.I live in Columbia,SC,and while this city and the state is pretty cohesive,there's many folks who consider certain areas as seperate.

    I really don't know how best to explain it.I wanna say think about the ancient Romans.There was Italy,then there were Romans.Same people,same blood,same nation,but entirely different at the same time.And any tea that ain't sweet,is an evil concoction.One of my (many) local Waffle Houses,now offers "unsweetened tea",due to a larger influx of northerners around here.Not good.

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  4. I can't speak for everybody from Georgia, but if folks in Atlanta acted like they were in Georgia (Ice Tea = Sweet Tea, for instance), we wouldn't have this problem. They're the ones acting all uppity and such. They need to start acting right. Now, they aint' all that way. But there's enough so that the stereotype is based on some fact.

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  5. Hehe. This is just all kind of funny. :)

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  6. just a quickie, went to Savannah and expected to get sweet tea (I usually drink unsweet tea) but got unsweet tea, what gives? Should I have specified "sweet tea" instead of iced tea?

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  7. Oh, my goodness. Savannah! That's inexcusable. Now, I've got to think. Please don't tell me it was some local place. Had to be some national chain out of Michigan or Illinois or New York or somewhere. It couldn't have been from the South. Wasn't it?

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  8. oh no my dear, I was at . . . wait for it . . . the Shrimp Factory! And I so wanted sweet tea, but said nothing!

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  9. I never, ever drank iced tea until I moved back to Alabama, because it's an abomination everywhere I've been up north...and no amount of sugar added can fix it. I don't know what the hell they do to it, but it's like drinking dirty pond water. Yecccchhh. And I've never understood the whole iced tea = unsweet tea thing, either. Must be something like calling cokes "pop" (Most Annoying Word Ever).

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  10. Bonfire of the Vanities #93

    [Oh, silly, silly Kevin...letting me host this...]

    Welcome to the Sadistic Edition of the Bonfire of the Vanities,

    in which I shall exact the punishment these bitches deserve for such substandard performance!

    First, welcome back ...

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  11. Oh my goodness: "Pop"!!

    I am thankful I've only had to hear that a couple of times. And didn't that name arise because of the sound of removing the cork from the bottle? I bet most of those folks that call it "pop" haven't even seen a glass bottle, much less a cork. But I could understand wanting to tell them to put a cork in it.

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  12. Pop is alot better than saying 'sodi'

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  13. That's why we say "Coke" if it's a "Coke" and "coke" if it's not (because it really should be).

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  14. you guys crack me up...I'm moved here from the UK and I'm still getting used to asking for 'Hot Tea' when I want tea...not that nasty cold stuff you all think is tea!
    Though have to confess that the few times I've tried 'Iced tea', the best stuff I ever drank was in Savannah...and as they say down there 'No one ever said I'm looking forward to that good northern cooking!'

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  15. Glad to you you're giving our peculiar tastes a try. And, by the way, I have tried an American version of hot tea. Not too bad. We use the tea bags, which is not how I saw English tea made on TV one time. The preparer scooped tea directly into a pot. Said he was used to the tea leaves in the cup, or something.

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  16. We have both "teas" in Texas, yes we do, we are trying to cult-i-vate ourselves out here.

    But, we (in most places) remember there is some Bab-a-tists out here too, drink this version of:

    Texas Tea

    2 oz tequila
    2 oz rum
    2 oz vodka
    2 oz gin
    2 oz bourbon whiskey
    2 oz triple sec
    2 oz sweet and sour mix
    Coca-Cola®

    Fill a 1 gallon pitcher with ice. Add all the ingredients except the Coca-Cola. Stir, take a good taste, then add a little Coke and stir again.

    Pour into your favorite glass over ice and enjoy.

    De-lich-ous everytime.

    Papa Ray
    West Texas
    USA

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  17. Papa Ray:
    Thanks for the recipe. I know some Baptists that would enjoy the heck out of that.

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