Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Can I have a large tea please?

More tales of consumer madness...

While promoting my new book I've been up and down the country quite a lot, spending more time than I would like in coffee shops and service stations.  And I've noticed something quite odd.

Increasingly, when you look at the drinks menus in these places, you can order a variety of coffees in small, medium and large sizes, but if you want tea, there is only one size available.  Why?  The cups are there.  It's simply a matter of choosing this cup, not that cup, and putting a little more hit water in.  I'd even be prepared to pay more for those 200 extra milliliters of hot water, but it doesn't seem to be an option any more.  Every single time I ask for a large tea, and I get a medium one.  A couple of times I've pointed out that I asked for a large one, and the staff have looked at me with complete incomprehension:

"I asked for a large tea."

"Tea. Yes.  There it is."

"No, but I ordered a large one."

"Large?"

"Yes."

"You wanted tea.  There is tea."

Anyone have any idea why tea drinkers are suddenly being coralled to medium sized cups?