if life hands you lemons...

...you know the rest.  or at least you thought you did.

but... if those lemons come with your water at a fancy-smancy restaurant... you might want to "just say no!"...  at least according to a recent report.

you see... i have this friend who works for the health department whose blog has brought me continuous chuckles through-out my the past year.  a gift in itself.  (i'm not sure if he's really that funny... or i just like the guy a lot so i find whatever he says to be humorous.  you can decide if you want.)

anyway... working for the h.d., (a job only slightly less hysterical than his previous one investigating the outrageous claims of people who eat at mickie d's) he often comes across interesting articles and situations between selling shaklee and hunting down wild boars.

but a few weeks ago he got a little personal... and i've only now decided to share my discontent with one of his posts.

bottom line:  in order to make us all aware (or to ruin our lives) he posted about a study showing that an amazing amount of gross stuff comes free of charge with those lemons you and i ask the waitress to add to our cheap glass of water so we don't taste the purification chems or the pipes or the dishwasher soap so much.  i guess the rules for food-handlers don't apply to the servers who go behind their little screens to fill up our glasses with the freebie h20.

now... long ago i'd heard that in restaurants you should always drink from a straw because the server may have touched the rim only minutes after coming from "the loo"... or handling the credit card, money or shared a pen with the slimy character at the next table! 

so... never touch your lips to the glass rim.  i get it!  since then it's been "straws only" for me unless i'm at a finer establishment.  but now he's taking away my lemon!!!

however... after reading that almost 70% of them carry some kind of undesireable microbe... i'm now begrudingly telling my waiter to "hold the lemon"... and helping blue eyes spread the word to help create a healthier, happier america.

enter today's post.

unfortunately i usually don't remember to tell people in person until after the waitress has placed the drinks on the table and everyone's had their first sip.  so... maybe after finally posting about it... i won't feel the need to say anything... or walk around the restaurant warning people that they might want to make sure they've had their flu shot before they take that next sip.

thanks my friend.  my life will never be the same, thanks to you.  oh... you might want to change your blog tagline to reflect your new found lemon phobia.  and... i guess i still love you even though you've stolen my lemons!

if you want to read his post for yourself... click here.

hmmm... maybe i could start bringing my own lemon slices in a little zip-loc!

Comments

[Rick Lingenfelter]

I was satisfied thinking this is more of a Michigan problem, then I clicked the link and discovered the health dept. official is the same one I know in Central IL. Dangit! Health department officials shouldn't be allowed to blog. Now I have to worry about the different excrements that may or may not reside on my lemon. And boy, that is an interesting list of excrements. Makes one wonder where lemons actually go and what people do to them after they are picked and before they end up in your glass.

One thing is for sure, no more lemon hillbilly teeth.

[justin]

LOL! Thanks for the shoutout, man. This exact topic came up the other night at a restaurant we were dining at with a bunch of friends. The girl across the table was half-way done with her water and toilet lemon when I noticed it. Of course, I had to share. And since she immediately lost her appetite, there was more pizza for the rest of us. Selfish? Maybe. Saving the world, one blog post at a time...