We've all gone to a restaurant that got our order wrong, and it was likely a frustrating experience for everyone involved.
But just imagine a restaurant getting your order wrong...on purpose.
A restaurant server and bartender revealed that when a person orders a ginger ale, there's a good chance that they're getting something that looks and tastes similar but is not, in fact, ginger ale.
In a TikTok that has since gone viral, Sophia of @20inthe20s revealed how she would make a fake ginger ale: in a clean glass, she would add ice, fill the glass approximately three-fourths of the way full with Starry soda or Sprite, and top the glass off with a splash of Pepsi, sometimes adding a tiny bit more of the first soda to ensure the color was right.
While the taste is different, it's similar enough that many restaurant-goers would not notice the difference, and you certainly cannot tell by looking at the glass alone.
But for consumers who are sensitive to caffeine, this could prove to be a problem because of the inclusion of Pepsi, which does contain caffeine.
You can watch the video here:
Some were uncomfortable with the idea of having to make the replacement drink.
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@20inthe20s/TikTok
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@20inthe20s/TikTok
Others called out restaurants for being dishonest and stated they'd prefer to order something else than to get a fake drink.
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@20inthe20s/TikTok
In a follow-up video, Sophia ascertained that she and her fellow staff do not make the fake ginger ale drinks, since her restaurant does carry authentic ginger ale, but she knew of some people who worked at other restaurants who did.
She also did a fun challenge with her fellow staff members, testing to see if they could tell the difference between real ginger ale and the Sprite-Pepsi pairing—and it was surprising to see how many people were wrong with their guesses.
You can watch the second video here:
It would be one thing to simply get someone's order wrong and then to quickly work to correct it—we're all human here, after all, and we make mistakes.
It would even be acceptable to say something like, "I'm sorry, we don't have ginger ale, but I can make something for you that tastes similar, if caffeine is not an issue for you," and thus offering the Sprite-Pepsi alternative.
But to simply swap in the fake ginger ale and expect someone not to notice means lying to the customer—and for those who are sensitive to caffeine, it could even lead to an unsafe, or at least unpleasant, situation after.
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