During the 2nd Europe leg of Sting's 57th & 9th tour, the band traveled in a private jet. Nora was the name of our flight attendant. She was so sweet. We had many conversations. She even let me sit in her seat in the cockpit so I could witness a landing.
Since the first travel day, Nora asked us if we'd like a coffee before takeoff. She memorized how everyone liked it. Even though I kept hearing how delicious the coffee was, I kept declining since I was trying to cut down my coffee intake.
One day, she asked if I even liked coffee. It was then when I felt a sense that I might be hurting her feelings by refusing. "You know what?! I WILL take a coffee today", I say to her ever so jubilantly. Nora's eyes brightened. "Wonderful! How do you like it?", she asked. "I'll take two sugars and a touch of almond milk", I responded. With a perplexed look on her face she says, "What's almond milk?"
Oh yeah! We're in Europe. The foods there are different. Cool Ranch Doritos are called "Cool American". They have ketchup flavored Cheetos. I figured I'd better keep it simple. "A touch of cream is fine", I declare. Nora leaves with a smile and returns with my coffee. It's terrific!
The next travel day, I take my seat and buckle in my accordion to the seat next to me as I always traveled with one so I could practice at a moments notice. I hear Nora's heavenly voice say, "Here you go, Percy." I look up as she hands me a hot cup of coffee. Oops! I forgot to mention that I didn't want one that morning. I didn't have the heart to tell her to discard it. This goes on for days. Every time we boarded, I would be occupied and before I knew it, Nora would be handing me a cup of Joe.
Finally, there came a day when I remembered about the coffee before we boarded. Nora was waiting to greet us at the entrance of the jet as she always did. Surely, I wouldn't forget to tell her NOT to make me a coffee this time. When I reach her, before I can utter a word, she claps her hands and screams, "Guess what?! I found your almond milk!" Needless to say, I had coffee every travel day for the rest of the Europe run.