worst drink ever

Last night I had another pharmacology education dinner. This one was about chemotherapy regimes for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. And what's even better than talking about colorectal cancer over supper? Only eating at the very best steak place in town. (Why anyone would order salmon here is beyond me...)

Usually at these things the sponsors will bring out several bottles of wine and we're invited to have a few glasses during the presentation and dinner. And usually I'll comply. (Why anyone would not partake of free wine is beyond me...)

Well, last night I was tired. I've been tired; that's the broken record of my story as of late. I was so tired that I thought I'd not have any wine, and that's what I told the server when they asked. Two of my coworkers teased. They wanted margaritas, and when the server asked them what kind of tequila they wanted, they didn't know.

"I want the expensive, good one." they answered.

And I'm not really sure why they always look at me when random conversations about alcohol come up... but they did. They asked what kind of tequila they wanted. I ordered Patrone and asked the server to make it three. Somewhere inside of me was a poor college student who couldn't say no to free alcohol.

The server came back with three glasses. I took a sip... and it tasted like teqila and brine, not margarita. My two coworkers took a sip and decided it was so bad they weren't going to drink it. I took another couple of sips -- what was that taste? I knew that taste, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

Sure, it tasted awful, but what a waste of Patrone to send it back!

I did, much to the chagrin of my other self. It was really too bad to drink.

The server came back with many apologies. Apparently the bartender had mixed tequila with olive juice... which would explain why it was awful. She brought out new drinks without the slice of lime and without the salt on the rim.

My two coworkers had drinks that were yellow in color; mine was clear. Theirs tasted like the drinks had margarita mix this time. My drink tasted like tequila and ice and maybe a splash of mix.

I sipped it slowly.

And what did I learn at this very nice drug meeting? What did I take away that will forever change my career? How will this effect my interactions with my patient population? What is the moral of this story?

Don't complicate things; when you're offered free wine, take it.