Deli on my day off

[Becks]

Wolfie, I was going to answer your post, but Broomjockey beat me to it.

Trust me, if you ever worked in a deli, you'd understand why they make sure it's OK with you.

[Andara Bledin]

I just figure Coke has become kind of the "generic" name so places that don't carry it ask to make sure. Plus some people actually notice a difference. I don't...

My brother always gets soda in restaurants. He's taken to ordering "Coke/Pepsi, whatever you have." Saves them the trouble of asking.

There is definitely a difference in the flavors of Coke & Pepsi. If you take someone who has a preference and have them blind taste 5 times, they'll pick the same one every time. Of course, they might pick the wrong one every time, but they will be consistent.

As for Coke vs Pepsi vs pop vs cola vs soda, here's a map!

^-.-^

[Becks]

There is definitely a difference in the flavors of Coke & Pepsi. If you take someone who has a preference and have them blind taste 5 times, they'll pick the same one every time.

I can always tell the difference between Pepsi and Coke.

Coke buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurns. Holy biscuit, how it burns.

[Ironclad Alibi]

The way I heard it, years ago Coca-Cola would send their reps around to restaurants to order Cokes. If they were served a Pepsi after ordering a Coke, they would sue the restaurant. To protect against this, servers were taught to always ask if Pepsi was OK.

Hmm...don't see that one on Snopes (they have a whole category of "Cokelore"...)

I just figure Coke has become kind of the "generic" name so places that don't carry it ask to make sure. Plus some people actually notice a difference. I don't...

My brother always gets soda in restaurants. He's taken to ordering "Coke/Pepsi, whatever you have." Saves them the trouble of asking.

I did a little research on this. I have a copy of "For God, Country and Coca-Cola" by Mark Pendergrast. In it he describes the conflicts between Coca-Cola and Pepsi in the early 1930s. Here is a link describing the conflict. Other passages in that book describe Coca-Cola trying to trademark "cola" but the courts ruled that it was a generic name. "Coke" is a valid trademark.

[Kogarashi]

My favorite deli incident was when I asked for a 1/3 of a pound of roast beef. The total weight of the cut meat was closer to 1/2 a pound, but without even asking the deli attendant picked up enough slices until it was close to 1/3, printed out the slip, and dropped those extra slices back on for me. I thought that was cool. Yay free slices!

It's almost like when I'm in a restaurant, I place my drink order as "cola" (one of my personal fatigue tests - if I ask for "Coke", I know I need to shut down soon), and the waitress asks "Is Pepsi OK?". Last time I checked, Pepsi was still cola.

I know I've been in places where "Coke" was used in place of "soda."

Example:
Guy: I'd like a Coke, please.
Girl: What flavor?
Guy: Sprite.