Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2008-04-07 18:53:15 - Graham Ellis
Pat, behind the counter, was picking at the ventilation hole in the lid of the coffee cup she was about to give that lady in front of me at South Mimms Services at 6:30 this morning. "It could hurt a child" she said as she worried the little bits of plastic that were sticking up, before handing it over. And this delay and explanation even though the customer looked middle ages, was on her own and in something of a hurry.
I was left alone to talk to Pat after the lady had gone; even a service area is quiet that early on. I asked if it wasn't equally dangerous to serve boiling black coffee to a child, and wasn't the slight sprig of plastic minor by comparison? She agreed, and said she would refuse to serve anyone under 16 with coffee, "especially espresso", before going on to tell me that the shop just across the way WOULD make such a sale, and "Red Bull" too.
Pat served me without questioning my age, and I asked if I was clearly over 16. "You look at least seventeen and a half" she said with a smile.