Since Myself has requested I tell the story of my discovery of Mai Tai's from another thread, here it is. Feel free to add your favorite drinking story so I dont feel like the only lush here.
Back in the middle of 1970, on my second flight to Vietnam, I met up with two buddies at Ft. Lewis, Washington I had come home with and we were scheduled for the same flight back over, a military chartered flight on United Airlines. The plane landed at Hawaii for a fuel stop and we were allowed off to wander the terminal for the 30 to 40 minutes we were to be there. Being the seasoned veterans we were, we headed straight for the nearest bar in the airport, with the intent to consume as much alcohol as possible in the short time and get back on the plane before it hit us, as you were not allowed on a military chartered flight if you were inebriated and the Army didnt take too kindly to one missing their flight because they got pixilated.
Wearing our faded jungle fatigues, we entered the first bar in the terminal, sat down at a table and soon, a waitress came over to take our order. Since we were wearing our jungle fatigues instead of Dress Greens, not only did we stick out like a sore thumb, but it was obvious to airport personnel where we were headed. As our intent was the mass consumption of alcohol in a very short period of time, we asked for a round of Zombies, thinking only of the amount of alcohol contained in that drink.
The waitress shook her head and said, "You dont want those." We looked at her oddly, having never been told we dont want what we asked for before. I picked up the drink menu sitting on the table and the three of us looked it over, seeking only drinks with the most alcohol in them. We didnt care what they were called. In fact, we didn't even look at the names and requested them by pointing to the contents of the drink, not the name. We requested five or six different drinks and each time, she replied, "You dont want those either!"
Becoming somewhat perplexed and slightly agitated, we joined each other in unison as we asked her, "Well, exactly what is it we do want?" She replied, "Mai Tais, that will accomplish what you want." Apparently, our little subterfuge wasn't as unique to us as we thought, as we had not informed her of our intent. After looking at the drink on the menu and seeing that it too contained more than enough alcohol to help us accomplish our mission, we ordered a round. She brought the drinks to us and as she was making our change, we sucked the glasses dry and were asking for another round. In all, we each downed five drinks apiece, leaving her a $5 tip with each round. We weren't permitted to carry American money while in country and could not think of a better way to dispose of the last of our money than that. For some reason, this seemed to appeal to the waitress, as she got us all the drinks we could handle in that short period of time.
Each drink came with a bamboo umbrella and an orchid in each glass. We threw away the umbrellas and kept the orchids, thinking only of those cute little round eyed stewardesses on the plane waiting for our return. Each got an orchid after we got a kiss. I was much bolder back then. We sat down in our seats, fastened our seat belts and somewhere shortly after take-off, passed out, waking only when the plane landed with a thud in Okinawa. What was really great was that there was no hangover.
Not long after leaving Vietnam for good, my drinking decreased almost to a stop, as I simply lost interest in it. I still enjoy a cold beer now and then and have wine with my dinner on occasion. I may even have a before dinner drink if I go out to a restaurant, often asking for a Mai Tai, amongst other drinks I like. But, for some reason, the Mai Tais just dont taste as good as those first ones did.
Lew W
Edited by - DakotaRed on 6 July 2002 3:19:51