I should probably just switch to tea, anyway.

I have my Moneen University travel mug with most of the time. Usually it's just filled with water, or sometimes iced tea/weak fruit juice/whatever non-water substance I have in my fridge. However, sometimes, I'll decide to treat myself to some coffee and I always ask that they simply fill my mug and charge me what's fair. Clearly, I'm doing this to reduce the amount of waste produced and not so I can con some poor barista into charging me for a small for twice the coffee. (note: the mug probably holds the same as a large Tim Horton's cup.)

It really bothers me when 1) Clerks argue with me over the size of the cup and the price of the coffee and 2) when the clerk spends precious time trying to discern the caffeine-capacity of my mug.

Once at McDonalds (this was my punishment, I'm sure, for even setting foot inside a McDonalds) I asked if, in my combo meal, I could substitute a small iced coffee ($1.39) for my medium soft drink ($1.69). I was told yes, but I would have to pay extra. When I questioned why I would have to pay extra to substitute something that actually costs less than what I was paying for, two employees and a manager had to get involved. In the end, I got my small iced coffee, but they actually measured out the amount in another cup, and then threw the plastic away. (note: the coffee filled my not-that-large mug to the brim.)

Then yesterday, I was at Starbucks and asked for my coffee politely and said that they could charge whatever they thought the correct fancy-named equivalent was, though I told them that previously I'd been charged for a "tall" to fill my cup. This clerk spent two full minutes trying to decide the volume of my cup, and measured it out with a paper one (though, this was not thrown out) before deciding that, in fact, I was correct with my "tall" guess.

This bothers me on several levels. First, I know the insane markup placed on drinks, and I am positive that the extra few millilitres of coffee that may find their way into my cup will not break Starbucks' bank. In fact, I might go as far as to wager my beloved mug that the paper/plastic cup itself costs more than the beverage inside it.

Second, I don't feel as though I should be inconvenienced or argued with for being ecologically responsible. It's not like I'm walking in there with a Big Gulp, and it's not like I'm asking for a discount for bringing my own cup (though I know a few shops that offer one), but I'd like for them to at least measure by eye and estimation so that I don't have to waste my time waiting for them to debate the correct mode of action, especially when it only makes their job harder.

At a certain point, isn't it easier just to go with the flow?

I realize I've been complaining in this blog a lot, so here's something that I have no reason to complain about:

Seven ways to get off the bottle by Melissa Wilson