Mommy Dearest
My parents were in town, and I had dinner with them at Sparks (best steaks in Manhattan). My mom is notorious for being unhappy with her meal and sending her order back, or at least looking sad and simply picking at her food. So imagine my surprise that we made it through - at a steakhouse, no less - without incident. I should've known better.
When her decaf coffee came, along with milk and an assortment of sweeteners, she says to the (non-English-speaking busboy), "There's no Splenda."
"What?" he replied.
My mom lifted her purse off the floor, opened up, and removed a plastic baggie filled with Splenda packets.
"You should serve Splenda. It's the only one that's truly healthy."
She then hands the packet to the busboy.
"Splenda?" he repeated. He turned the packet over in his hands, confused.
"Yes, Splenda. It's the only one I use."
At that point the busboy attempted to hand the packet back to my mother, but she refused.
"No, keep it. You should show it to the chef."
"The chef?"
"Yeah, you can give it to him."
"Okay," the busboy replied before slinking away.
I don't know if Sparks will now stock Splenda in its sweetener assortments. But maybe they shouldn't be so quick to follow my mom's advice...