Yum, aspartame

I am the proud possessor of a can of Diet Coke. Here they call it "Coca-Cola Light," but I'm pretty sure it's the same thing. I cannot remember the last time I drank a can of soda just for fun. I think it was probably back in the States. (To explain the "just for fun" comment, I am lucky enough- no, seriously- to be afflicted with a disease that requires me to regularly drink full-sugar soda. Take that. So I've been drinking a fair amount of Fanta, the French Orange Soda. But no Diet Coke.) The sodas at restaurants here are quite expensive- generally not less than 3 euros- so whenever we go out we just get a jug of water, because unless you're desperate it's just not worth it.

But today I went to the neighborhood kebab place, as I do fairly regularly, and ordered a package of cooked meat to take home. They sliced off some meat and put it in a package for me, and I went to the counter to pay. I gave the man my 3.50, and when he took it he looked at me and said, "And a drink." This has never happened before. I thought I had misunderstood, so I said, "A drink?" He said, quietly, "Yeah, a drink, over there," and pointed to the cooler at the back of the restaurant where they keep the drinks.

Now, I've been going to that place, as I said, fairly regularly for about a month, and I've been hoping that something like this would happen, that they'd start giving me a little extra meat, or a greek salad I didn't pay for (greek salad = yum. Iceberg lettuce and cabbage = less yum. Guess which one they give you with your assiette kebab). But I've never seen this guy before. So all I can think of is that he liked my pretty blue eyes.

I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so I went to the back of the store and picked myself out a nice cold Diet Coke. It's sitting in my fridge right now. I'm saving it to drink with dinner.