Get Vegas on the phone...

...'cause I have a line that will bring in the bets.

Tonight, Katie and I went to T.G.I.Fridays, well because, it's Friday. (I'm such a sucker for indirect advertising. I'm a sheep, especially after a long week.) Actually, we happened to be in the city to pick up a textbook that I need in order to comply with an open-book exam tomorrow morning. After much debate on the need to purchase said book, I decided it will be in my best interest to have it on hand for the exam. You know, just in case my marketing major doesn't have the wheels to finish this leg of the MBAmeter Dash.

Anyways, Friday's. It's one of those fine establishments that know it can make its money in the soft drink department. If they feel the need to undercharge for the Jack Daniels (Insert Random Food Here) just to compete in price wars with those communists over at Applebee's, then they need to find a cost savins elsewhere. This is the explanation behind charging a $1.98 for a soda.

Highway Robbery? Nay. A challenge to take down the system? Yep.

I pride myself on taking the "Free Refill" policy to the house. The White House. I am the self-proclaimed President of Carbonation. At a restaurant such as Friday's, the waitress is kind enough to take your drink order while you peruse the menu. Standard procedure dictates that when she returns to take the entree orders, she's got the just what the Condon ordered - a tall glass of Pepsi (or in more trying times, Coke.) This is where my plan kicks into gear. It's not that I sit there with the straw permanently affixed to my throat, it's just that I enjoy the immediate rush of ice cold soda. One drink turns into another, and the waitress extends the courtesy to replace the empty glass with a full one. This is only the beginning.

By the time Jack Daniels shows up with his glazetastic whatever, I've drained glass number 2, and looking for three. This is where the speculation begins. How far can Condon go? Soda is cheap for a restaurant - for cheaper than $1.98 per glass. I've just doing my part to right the world, stand up for the consumer, and get one man's money's worth in cola.

Glass three is on the table. But so is my meal. That slows things down, and this is where Vegas needs to step in and put my dinner habits on the big board. The official over/under on my soda intake will be opening at 3.5 glasses. Place your bets, people.

"Cause the house always wins. Play long enough, you never change the stakes. The house takes you. Unless, when that perfect hand comes along, you bet big, then you take the house."