4 ms·

I was flatly told "no" when I asked for tap water at a restaurant in Italy. The waitress seemed a little disgusted I would ask, too. I've heard some peoples h

I was flatly told "no" when I asked for tap water at a restaurant in Italy. The waitress seemed a little disgusted I would ask, too. I've heard some peoples have an aversion to tap water even if it's become safe these days, so I guess it was that, or maybe some kind of miscommunication. Maybe she just thought it has a bad taste, but it can't have been bad enough that I'd prefer paying 2-3 euros for bottled water.

tormeh 11y ago
It's because they have better margins on drink and she thought you were being cheap.
- scintill76 11y ago
  Heh, good point. It would have been normal to have some wine, but I don't drink, and didn't want any soft drinks that may have been available. So I probably looked super-cheap. Which, on the tap vs. bottled choice I was kind of being cheap.
toyg 11y ago
> I was flatly told "no" when I asked for tap water at a restaurant in Italy. Modern consumerism at work! In most of Italy, 30 years ago, asking for a jug of water at a restaurant was absolutely normal; you would order bottles only if you preferred sparkling, or if you were acting stupendous. By the mid-90s, drinking bottled water at home had become normal even in cities with perfectly working water systems. People worried about hygiene started requiring bottled water in all circumstances, to be opened in their presence (god forbid you would actively recycle glass bottles in your establishment! -- to be fair though, in a country where screwing your fellow man is considered the smart thing to do, charging bottled-water prices for tap water was far from uncommon). Nowadays, it's expected that water should be served in bottles; it's supposedly more hygienic and it's certainly more profitable for restaurants. Somebody joked that in Sicily people drink water bottled in the Alps, and in the Alps they drink water bottled in Sicily. It's all great for the economy, of course, and terrible for the environment, but hey, così è la vita.
- vacri 11y ago
  I had to laugh when a bottle of water here in Australia became more expensive than the same-sized bottle of carbonated syrup drink. A barman friend charged a client $X for a round, including a bottle of water. One of his regulars scrunched up his face in thought, did the calculations, and said "Did you just charge $6 for a bottle of water?". The reply: "Did you see her blink?". It's been ridiculously normalised. For the record, my hometown is supposedly famous for excellent tapwater for drinking.
gambiting 11y ago
I live in the UK now and I just drink tap water everywhere I go. But back where I come from(Poland) nobody drinks tap water. I don't think it's dangerous,or tastes bad, it's just...not something anyone does. I guess it varies by country.

tormeh 11y ago

It's because they have better margins on drink and she thought you were being cheap.

scintill76 11y ago
Heh, good point. It would have been normal to have some wine, but I don't drink, and didn't want any soft drinks that may have been available. So I probably looked super-cheap. Which, on the tap vs. bottled choice I was kind of being cheap.

toyg 11y ago

> I was flatly told "no" when I asked for tap water at a restaurant in Italy. Modern consumerism at work! In most of Italy, 30 years ago, asking for a jug of water at a restaurant was absolutely normal; you would order bottles only if you preferred sparkling, or if you were acting stupendous. By the mid-90s, drinking bottled water at home had become normal even in cities with perfectly working water systems. People worried about hygiene started requiring bottled water in all circumstances, to be opened in their presence (god forbid you would actively recycle glass bottles in your establishment! -- to be fair though, in a country where screwing your fellow man is considered the smart thing to do, charging bottled-water prices for tap water was far from uncommon). Nowadays, it's expected that water should be served in bottles; it's supposedly more hygienic and it's certainly more profitable for restaurants. Somebody joked that in Sicily people drink water bottled in the Alps, and in the Alps they drink water bottled in Sicily. It's all great for the economy, of course, and terrible for the environment, but hey, così è la vita.

vacri 11y ago
I had to laugh when a bottle of water here in Australia became more expensive than the same-sized bottle of carbonated syrup drink. A barman friend charged a client $X for a round, including a bottle of water. One of his regulars scrunched up his face in thought, did the calculations, and said "Did you just charge $6 for a bottle of water?". The reply: "Did you see her blink?". It's been ridiculously normalised. For the record, my hometown is supposedly famous for excellent tapwater for drinking.

gambiting 11y ago

I live in the UK now and I just drink tap water everywhere I go. But back where I come from(Poland) nobody drinks tap water. I don't think it's dangerous,or tastes bad, it's just...not something anyone does. I guess it varies by country.