I think the rudeness, if any, would be only toward your host, whether in a private home or a restaurant.

But I must say, God help me, that I agree with JoeSlammovitch on this one.

What ridiculous nonsense! I can't count the times I've dined with alcoholics in recovery, once at Taillevent, once at Little Inn at Washington, and another at Daniel. Not once did a waiter bat a disapproving eyelash. Had he, I would have seen him lose his job.

I have never had a waitstaff member in Paris do anything other than take my order and bring me my food.

Battery Acid is timeless.
H2SO4 is a very stable compound.

Oh SeaUrchin, I can relate. I just recently attended a little get-together in someone's home. When I arrived, the host asked me if I'd like red or white wine. I asked for white, then was, ummm, surprised to be handed a glass of white zinfandel. When she later asked if I'd like another glass of wine, I had to pull out my most sincere, "No thanks, I'd just like a glass of water."

BTW, I've declined wine in French restaurants plenty of times - particularly at business lunches, where wine and jet lag together would have done me in for the afternoon. No one (host or waiter) batted an eye.

LOL, when I walked by his bar I saw the BOXES of wine so luckily I knew ahead of time!

Hi A,

>What if we ordered ice-tea?

I once ordered iced tea in a British restaurant.

It arrived 45 min later.

I later discovered that they had had to brew me a pot of hot tea, let it cool down in a water bath and then ice it.

Marilyn
thats the spirit! STick around kid, you'll learn something.

I haven't actually tried any yet, but was informed that boxed wine is actually a superior packaging method because the wine goes into a collapsing bag inside - as the wine is depleted, the bag shrinks down, and there is little/no oxygen allowed in to degrade the wine that is left.

travelnut,

Try it and then tell us what you think.

I had heard that, too, that the box would keep wine fresh longer. Andrea Immer had (has?) some sort of deal with Target, where she picks out their wines. At one time (from what I understand) she even helped select wines to be boxed exclusively for Target. I was so excited and bought a box of Shiraz. It was terrible and I poured it all out. I noticed that the boxed wine were pulled from my Target's shelves pretty quickly. Complaints? Not sure.

Anyway, I do wish there were good quality boxed wines out there for people like me who would like to have a couple of glasses a week.

I think the problem is not with the method of packaging, but with the wine that goes into the box to start with.

Jocelyn, have you tried one of those vacuum pump thingies that is supposed to keep the wine fresher?

Hi Marilyn,

Yes, I have one, but I still find that after 3-4 days it starts tasting funky.

Yeah, maybe that's why I haven't bought one yet..but I don't buy 'high-end' wine anyway. Shoot, I just upped my budget to the $9.99-$12.99 range...I use one of those vacuum seals - it does help quite a bit.

Jocelyn, you will just have drink faster! I have one of those pumps and yes it keeps the wine good for a few days.

I guess we have hijacked Aries thread and she is not interested in wine.

From one Aries to another:

You don't have to be a recovering alcoholic or someone on drug therapy or even a church-goin' teetotaller to be a non-drinker. Some of us were born lacking the enzyme to turn alcohol into a non-toxic substance the body can process. Sadly enough. (I learned to love the taste of a number of drinks before I finally understood my body wanted no part of alcohol).

So for 4 decades I've had to navigate all kinds of situations where declining alcohol (wine, beer, etc.) somehow upset someone else. I used to go to pains to explain why I didn't drink; then for a while I let people assume I was recovering or medicated or whatever. It is a particular problem on champagne-toasting occasions.

Now I just order sparkling water or -- in the rare case of that champagne toast or when it does seem that a host will be offended and not understand why I wouldn't accept some wine -- I let them pour me a glass and, if necessary, lift it to my lips, and then set it down for the rest of the evening.

That's for a private host or party. In a restaurant, I forget the issue completely and order what I want. Each snooty look I get from a waiter costs a percentage of the tip.

Ha ha, we could adopt the tipping method my dad uses at his favorite restaurant - he puts $xx on table, tells the waitress, "here's your tip - everytime my coffee cup is empty, I'm taking a dollar away". We could do this in snooty French restaurants, but take a euro away for every sneer.

Rubbing alcohol, nail polish remover, battery acid, boxed wine....I drink it all.

Who cares what your waiter thinks, or your host for that matter? Order what you want. Some of you care far too much what other people think. Get a backbone.

And no waiter had better give me an attitude about not ordering wine (which would never happen as I am an alcoholic). I will make his day a living hell, and I can do it too as I am the Anti-Christ of Fodors.

Iced tea is actually catching on in France and can be found in some supermarkets. But I have yet to see it on a restaurant menu.

LOL, sure JohnG, I, for one, do not believe that for a minute
(the part about being an Anti-Christ) I am afraid you have way too much competition ~

In the old days, I did not drink at all (headaches) But as time has gone by, I have found what I can drink and how much and manage to pretend to be a grown up when we go out to dinner and have drinks.
But not once in all the years of my not drinking, have I ever had a waiter look at me in any way for not ordering wine - in the US or in France!
If you order iced tea in France, you might not get it, they don't really do iced tea much.
I always order sparkling water.

I think the only thing most waiters are offended by are 1- rude customers/treating the waiter badly 2-bad tippers.

JoeSlam: Here's one to you for the best response!

SeaUrchin: Here's two big ones to you for the funniest answer I've seen on these threads for a long time!

I used to do a lot of international business travel and NEVER ever drank on the job. We did a lot of business entertaining and I'd always ask for a glass of orange juice. Sometimes the juice would cost as much as a glass of wine (was that the waiter making up for the "tip" he wouldn't have gotten?) Nobody ever mentioned a thing: not clients, not colleagues, not wait staff. I was just the oddball ordering orange juice.

Now I do a lot of wine sampling - on my own dime - just making up for lost time!

Sorry, Scarlett, I meant to write that I was the Imitation of Christ of Fodors. (For those who won't get the joke, Imitation of Christ is a fashion label. And isn't wine supposedly the blood of Christ. How 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon???