Today, just before my flight back to Minneapolis, I decided to grab a quick breakfast bite at Charley’s in the Detroit Metropolitan Airport. The following interaction between me and the order-taker was classic. I am sure similar interactions and outcomes will happen a thousand times over across the USA today:

Latasha (food service worker): Can I hep who next?

Me: Hi, could I please have the egg, sausage, and cheese sandwich combo, except instead of coffee may I have a Diet Coke?

Latasha: Nope. Tha’s not a combo.

Me: Really? I can’t substitute a soda for a coffee.

Latasha: What do you mean?

Me: I want the combo meal, but for my drink I want a cold soda, not hot coffee.

Latasha: Tha’s not whuz in th’ COM-BOW! (Yeah, she raised her voice to me.)

Me: OK. Let’s try this. Order me the sausage, egg, and cheese sandwich, a hashbrown, and a Diet Coke.

Latasha: That’ll be $8.25.

Outcome for me – loss of $0.65, and of course I ended up getting the bacon egg and cheese sandwich. Classic fail.