All I wanted was Diet A&W Rootbeer

Strange how you don't know you truly miss something until you find it staring you in the face. This past Tuesday was my birthday and I stumbled upon a treat for myself at the corner market--Diet A&W Rootbeer! I used to love drinking it and have not even seen regular A&W on any shelves in this country. So when I saw it, I grabbed it and deemed it my very own birthday treat. I paid for that and a few other items and headed home. As you might guess--it tasted great with my sandwich and soup lunch.

The next day, I finished teaching the Conversation English class and decided to see if my little treat was still at the corner market. To my delight it was! YEAH! I snatched another A&W and headed to the counter along with a small bundle of fresh spinach. When the man quoted the price as 6.50, I was shocked and I'm sure my facial expression showed it. I asked the man to repeat the price, because surely I had not heard him correctly. Usually a can of coke (or soda, or pop, or whatever you call it!) costs about 1.00. I knew the spinach was only 3.00 and there was no way ONE can of Diet A&W Rootbeer could cost 3.50. The man quoted the same price and then kindly pointed out to me that I was wanting to buy 'beer'. All 'beer' or alcoholic beverages are marked up an automatic 18%. I tried to explain to him that A&W Rootbeer was not truly 'beer' or an 'alcoholic' beverage. The clerk proudly walked from behind the tiny counter and to the cold drink section and pulled out two 'beer' beverages that had the word 'beer' on the can. He placed the two cans next to my A&W and pointed out that all three of them had the word 'beer' in it. He would not budge on the price due to his clever evidence. I sighed in disgust and disbelief and resigned myself to purchasing only the bag of spinach.

I suppose I will have to wait until next December 4th to treat myself to another Diet A&W Rootbeer. This is when language barrier and cultural differences truly want to make me pull my hair out!

A quick note to friends and family: thanks so much for emailing and calling me this past Tuesday. Your words of encouragement and friendship were a blessing. C treated me like a Queen and gave me cards, text messages, gifts, and a fancy Italian dinner---best of all he has given me his love, support, and daily deepening friendship.