One Without Tea

A conversation I recently witnessed in a coffee shop at the airport. An old frail man walked up to the counter and asked for 

“One without tea”

The boy across the counter who was taking this order wanted to double-check. “One, what?”

With a deadpan face, the customer answered “One without tea”

I was next in the queue and immediately knew that this would take a while. It was promising to be fun as well. 

“We have masala tea and ginger tea. Which one would you want?”

“No Sada (ordinary) tea. But without tea” came the reply from the customer. 

The confused assistant realized that his feeble attempts to sidestep a tricky request weren't working. So he reached out to his supervisor for help.

The busy looking supervisor asked the customer if he wanted coffee !!

“No coffee. Only Without Tea”. Now our man was losing it. Apparently coffee is not his cup of tea.

“Tell him we don’t have it” – The irate supervisor shooed away the counter boy who was by now becoming more of a pest than the customer himself.

The poor boy was more than happy to follow his boss’s orders and told the old man that they don't have that 'Without tea'. Whatever it might be. 

The customer was bemused and said something in a language that none of us understood. I am pretty sure he was not thanking the coffee shop, guys.

He walked out angry and disappointed. But hey, he got what he wanted. He asked for 'One Without tea', and walked away without tea. What was he fussing about?

As I reached the counter and asked for a cup of coffee, the counter boy was thrilled to bits and beamed a very happy smile. He was so happy to hear something he could understand.

As my coffee was getting ready I turned back and looked at the old man and thought about his strange request. What could he have wanted? Should I have stepped in and tried to help him rather than just enjoy the fun? 

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the coffee cup and the fresh brew.

"Sir, your coffee," said the helpful assistant and pointed me to a corner where sugar packets were kept. 

Without Sugar

Instinctively I looked back to see if that tea-loving customer was still around. How could we not understand this simple request? 

I never met that old man again and probably never will. But I sincerely hope that the next time he has a smarter and sweeter fellow customer who not just enjoys his plight but also helps him get his 'One without (sugar) tea',