I've always ordered beverages one simple way: "A Coke, please."
Lately, though, this hasn't seemed to work. Waitresses now
often respond, "I'm sorry, we don't have Coke. We have Pepsi,
Diet Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, Fanta, and Sprite"
Tired of listening to the long list of soft drinks, I thought
I'd make life easier. So one day I simply asked the snackbar
clerk at a movie theatre for a "dark, carbonated beverage."
The young man behind the counter chuckled and asked, "Sir,
would you like a cylindrical plastic sucking device with
that?"