on the good ship, LOLLIPOP

I was at a maritime function last night and received two drink tickets to get whatever two drinks from the bar that my little heart desired. Honestly, I just wanted an orange soda, but I always feel that when given free reign, it's simply not a good deal to just get soda; I can get a can of soda for, like, a quarter. At opportunities such as this, one needs to get something with a little more lead in it.

Back in high school, my volleyball team had quarterly dinners. One night we were eating at a restaurant and one of the girls ordered a shirley temple. I had no idea what that was because I am a chinese girl with chinese parents and we don't go to places with cocktail drink options. The most exotic mixed drink I had encountered at that point was seven up mixed with sparkling apple cider at chinese banquets. Eventually, out came the waiter with the shirley temple and it looked so grown up with its bright maraschino cherry and pink hue. so of course, we ALL had to order a shirley temple after we saw kristen's. I loved it.

So fast forward nine years (golly that was a long time ago) to last night. Me, holding my drink tickets; me, wanting a soda. I saw a lot of people holding martinis and glasses of wine, but I really just wasn't feeling it. I had a flash of brilliance and told the nice man behind the counter, a little chinese man who literally stood only about a foot above the bar counter, "I would like two shirley temples please!" (rika wanted one too). He looked at me, a mole on the side of his face with hair growing out of it, and said to me in a thick Cantonese accent, "but those are for little (he then made the "short person" motion where he held up his hand to about his eyebrows) girls. Don't you want al-co-hol?"

"No."

So then he grinned and proceeded to squirt 7-up in two glasses and poured grenadine over the top and threw in the maraschino cherries. I liked it a lot. I'm jealous that shirley temple has such a nice drink with her name.

"One Allison please!"