Tea/Coffee?

I really can't recall if I've discussed this before, and I never use the 'tags' on blogger to identify the topics in each post. So rather than looking back through previous posts, I'm just going to write about it anyway. My apologies in advance if you've heard this story before.

"Tea/coffee?" has to be the most frequently asked question in India. Everywhere I go, someone generally offers me "tea/coffee?" And yes, the inquiry is delivered just as I have written it. There is no lead in such as, "Would you care for any..." or "May I serve you some...", just good old inflection in the voice in connection with a head wobble. The Indian culture has definitely embraced this inherited, British tradition.

Is this a contender for the shortest sentence in the English language? (Some would say the title belongs to "I am", but we all learned in Sunday School "Jesus wept", but I by no means am trying to compare 'tea/coffee' with the latter.)

The meat of this post was actually meant to address the humor I find with respect to this in the office. Everytime we have a meeting in a conference room here, strangely, this question does not come up. The barista goes about his business and proceeds to deliver tea or coffee to every Indian in the room. And what does he bring to me? A Diet Coke. Literally, any gathering you see between expats and Indians, the Indians always have tea or coffee, and the foreigners have Diet Cokes in front of them. Also, every morning when I arrive there are two bottled waters and a Diet Coke (chilled, which is a rarity) waiting for me in my cube. Now that's service!

This video might illustrate the situation better.