No tea

[louiselux]

I just drank a can of red bull cola as a substitute for tea, because there's no milk. It's not working. I need tea.

The reason there's no milk is that I just spent my last money-- the money I was going to use to buy milk-- on a giant envelope, which the post office lady made me pay for in actual cash, even though I was paying for some other things with my card. I wanted to say 'but I need this money for milk, so I can have a cup of tea' but I did not. I submissively handed over my milk money.

WHY?

Comments

[slashweaver.livejournal.com]

Aw, sweetheart... I madly empathise. And of course I am very tempted to just stroll down your way with a fiver in my pocket...

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

Aww, thanks. I had to raid my piggy bank and ended up paying for a pint in 5ps and 1ps. But at least I have tea. Which is the important thing.

[i-am-zan.livejournal.com]

OHhh Sweetheart ... I know how exactly how it feels to be deprived of tea ... I would have been in tears.

*hugs* - I'm glad you managed to get some for tea though. And yeah I've done that too!

*moar hugs ... just 'cause*

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

Well, it was my own fault really. Even if the post office lady was strangely irrational about my payment methods. But sometimes it's difficult to open one's mouth and speak up.

*squishes you*

[kispexi2.livejournal.com]

The job situation has made you meek? (Been there; done that).

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

Oh? Like, a loss of confidence from being made redundant? Yeah, that sounds like exactly the way my brain works. It was really stupid, all I had to do was just say no.

Also, uugh, I'm sorry. :(

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

::hugs::

[lauand.livejournal.com]

That's tragic. There's ALWAYS milk at home. I make sure of it. I'm not joking when I say that I've got a hidden carton (or two) in my room in case of necessity because I can't live without milk. Not because I drink tea, but because of the milk itself.

I really hate it when unexpected turns of events prevent you from saying "no" in time. Dammit, we have to be prepared 24/7 to say "no" at every moment and place!

"Excuse me, do you...?"
"NO!!"

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

Yes! This is how I want to react next time. There won't even BE a next time.

[daegaer.livejournal.com]

Woe! Come and stay with me, I have milk and tea!

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

Yes please!

I realised my passport ran out in 2007. :( I lead an exciting travel filled life, clearly.

[niennah.livejournal.com]

There is no substitute for tea. :(

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

No, not even coffee. When you need tea, nothing else will fill that tea-shaped hole.

[trensaddiction.livejournal.com]

If our post demanded cash, I fear I'd never mail anything. Plastic is the currency of the modern era, after all. O_o

That said, I hope that your tea will not go milk-less for too much longer. :(

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

I'm awash with milk now. \o/

Yeah, I don't understand that post office lady at all. It was all so random.

[crystal-lilly.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Interesting, really, that the post office requires different methods of payment for different items. It doesn't seem to make much sense.

And this is a tangent to the actual topic, but when I first read your post, I was confused. I was thinking, "Milk? What does milk have to do with tea?" But then, after some quick googling, I realized that Americans make hot tea a bit differently than Europeans. *smile* Out of curiosity, how exactly do you make your tea?

[cicer.livejournal.com]

Really? You never put milk in your tea? *scratches head* I'm American, and I've always done that. Huh. Maybe it's a regional thing.

[hungry-worm.livejournal.com]

Not sure about the rest of europe, but in Germany both versions are common, although I'm not sure which sorts of tea are more strictly black or "white"... Some coast areas favour very strong tea, often drunk without milk. It's also a personal preference thing - I usually drink all black teas with milk unless it's a really delicious, mild one.
(I've also heard that the addition of milk to tea sounds has a pearls before swine shock effect on real tea gourmets, but well... I liiiiike milk. :-)))

[cicer.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I can't imagine black tea without milk. I usually like a strong black tea, though, so I guess I need something to lighten it a little.

Hee, I know. My tea preparation habits would horrify a tea purist. Tea from a bag! Bought in the supermarket! Water heated in the microwave! The pot not pre-warmed! Milk in the tea! Oh horrors! XD

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

That's exactly how I make my tea, for preference, although I have been known to enjoy a light green tea now and then. But black tea for me has to have milk. My tastebuds are far too inured at this late stage to deal with it otherwise.

[crystal-lilly.livejournal.com]

Really. ^____^ The thought for me of putting milk in tea was about as mystifying as contemplating putting chocolate syrup in tea or orange juice in coffee. *laugh* (Those are just examples, I don't know anyone who does that. XD)

For me, I enjoy either mild black tea or green tea. When I make tea, I just steep the tea in hot water, then put the resulting liquid into a mug with maybe a tiny bit of sweetener added if I want a sweet tea. My mom does the same, except she also squeezed fresh lemon juice into her tea. *grin* I'm from the South, does that help with the regional part? ^______^

[pixie-blade.livejournal.com]

same here (the south part), i am super picky about my tea, but we have 2 main types, cold sweet tea and hot tea with lemon. now that i'm in nor. california, i've taken up the asian milk tea drink, which is pretty much what it sounds like, you make hot black tea and then add sweetened condensed milk until it looks like chocolate milk.

i prefer mine to be on the sweeter side with pearls (tapiocca pearls). it's yummy. :) i'm glad you finally got you tea!

[cicer.livejournal.com]

Bubble tea is getting really popular where I am too (southern California)! I tried it once and was completely grossed out, but one of my best friends adores it. *laughs* People are always picky about their teas, I think!

[pixie-blade.livejournal.com]

i'm a huge honeydew fan, and tapioca express has this honeydew snow bubble, not tea, but oh my is it to die for. i like iced milk tea as well, if you can, try it with the small boba (tapioca pearls) or the white ones, some people don't like the chewy sweetness when they aren't expecting it. the small ones are an easy starter version, and the white ones are less smoky sweet than the large black ones. just an fyi-i hated it at first myelf too! :)

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

That sounds delicious. There must be somewhere in the UK that will serve me tea with condensed milk and tapioca pearls.

[pixie-blade.livejournal.com]

try searching for a tapioca express or a quickly, they're chains out of asia, or if you have a chinese neighborhood you can ask for a bubble tea. good luck!

[cicer.livejournal.com]

Hee! Yeah, I understand sweet tea is a big thing in the south, though I never knew whether or not in included milk. I'm from southern California, and while most people don't put milk in their tea (if you order tea in a restaurant, they never offer you milk for it, either) when I make tea at home I almost always put milk in it. I just put honey in herbals teas, but my favorite black tea I always put milk and sugar in.

It's funny, the more I talk about it with people the more I realize that milk in tea is a really divisive thing! People are either aghast at contaminating tea with milk, or shocked that anyone wouldn't put milk in tea. XD

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

They don't usually, it was just her being strange, I think. Very odd.

You sparked some a tea-related debate here. I'm now really wanting to try tea with tapioca pearls. In the UK it's really more common to drink black tea with milk than not, although some people do. When someone makes tea for someone they've not met before, it's always 'do you take milk and sugar?'

[aonekosama.livejournal.com]

Here in Finland the majority of tea drinkers seem not to put milk in their tea, if any conclusions can be drawn from the fact that in coffee shops the mug (though more and more often it's a glass these days, which is just weird) is always too full. And some are of the opinion that people who put milk in their tea do it just because they don't know how to brew it properly. (In which they're wrong, I say.)

I'd love it if I could get my hands on that bubble tea some day, but since Finland is a coffee country by nature, that probably won't happen any time soon. Also much needed is iced milk tea in the summer. In fact, tt makes me sad how many different coffee drinks there are, compared to the lonely "just tea" option.

[kanzenhanzai.livejournal.com]

eep, Red Bull instead of tea is Just Not Right.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

I know! Tea fail.

[cicer.livejournal.com]

Oh noes! I am enjoying a nice cup of tea with milk and sugar right now, so I feel your must-have-tea pain! *pets* I hope you've gotten your tea by now!

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

I have some right to hand. *slurps*

[hungry-worm.livejournal.com]

I know these situations. Urk. :(

Although I must admit that my pain would have been caused by not having enough milk to drink pure - I do drink tea with milk, too, but milk as it is makes me the happiest. :)

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

I used to love plain milk. Not so much these days though, but a glass now and then is delicious.

[vom-marlowe.livejournal.com]

That is just worlds of unfair. No milk for tea!!! Ack!

I would probably cry.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

It was shocking really. I could've just said no to her and her strange demands for actual cash. SIGH.

[chomiji]

Awww, that's so rotten! Silly obsessively rule-following PO peon!

I don't imagine that my attempts to send you milk over the Intarwebs are going to be any more effective than my previous attempts to send smillaraaq chicken soup by that method ... .

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

Heee! Possibly not, but I appreciate the email milk very much.

[tochira.livejournal.com]

Ooooh I can empathize... I haven't had coffee or tea since last Friday and can't have any until the weekend because of an upcoming doctor's appointment. The first thing I always want when I wake up is coffee, and when I walk in the door from work it's a great big cup of tea. In a week as stressful as this one, it's been torture! (Herbal tea just isn't the same....)

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

Oh god, torture indeed! Herbal tea just doesn't cut it at those times. Well, I hope you're back to your caffiene-scarfing ways very soon.

[moshesque.livejournal.com]

:( :( :(

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

I know! Total fail.

[new-kate.livejournal.com]

My grandma serves tea in fine china cups, with silver spoons and gold-rimmed saucers so thin that if you hold them up against a lamp you can see light streaming through them. She uses loose leaf and infuses it with briar rose berries or linden tree flowers to add a little warmth to the flavour. So naturally I can't stop drinking it, and it drives her nuts, because instead of relaxing into nice cosy gossip session she has to keep making tea and I keep bolting to the bathroom. After a couple of hours she inevitably says: "No, that's enough tea for you. It's meant to be savoured, not guzzled like beer! Next thing you'll be putting milk in it or something!"
I still don't have the heart to tell her the truth about England and milky tea, and especially about that demonic practice of putting teabags in the teapot that we gleefully indulge in here.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

Kaaaaaate, you are here! *hugs*

Don't tell her that, she'll disown you! Sainsbury's Red Label teabags, strong-but-milky, three sugars to blot out any remaining tea flavour, these things are the Devil's inventions. It's a world away from infusing rosehips and flowers and savouring.