If life gives you lemons, make lemon tea!

I gave up coffee a couple of years ago.  I don't miss it, but I do sometimes find that I run out of things I want to drink.  When I was a coffee drinker, there was never any such thing as too many coffees (that was part of the problem) so whatever was going on, and wherever I was, I was always happy to order one more.
I don't mind a cup of tea, but I do get bored with it after a while.  I like green tea, but not everywhere serves it, so sometimes I resorted to a trusted old favourite of lemon tea.  It's a bit more refreshing than ordinary tea and, in theory, more readily available than green tea.  However, I'm always amused when cafes say they don't have it. The conversation normally goes something like this.
Can I have a lemon tea please.
We don't have lemon tea on the menu.
Do you do ordinary tea.
Yes of course.
Do you have lemons.
Yes, of course.
Then can I have an ordinary tea, but with no milk, and a slice of lemon.
This is normally met by a quizzical look and a shrug, but the necessary ingredients usually arrive, and I duly make my lemon tea myself.  However, one young man in a cafe I shall not name did try to persuade me that I couldn't make it myself because they didn't have teabags, but used fresh tea leaves instead (something he was clearly very proud of) and so I'd get leaves in my lemon tea.  When I asked him how I would avoid getting leaves in my ordinary tea if I was taking it with milk, he confidently told me about the tea strainer they provide.  I waited a minute or two for the penny to drop on the corner he'd backed himself into and eventually (without me saying a word) he realised what he'd said and went off to the kitchen to get what I'd ordered.
Often in life (business or pleasure) it's easy to get stuck in a rut.  The menu says English Breakfast tea.  It doesn't say lemon tea and so the waiter sticks to that. Sometimes there is a good reason for it (we don't have any lemons – rare but it happens) sometimes there isn't (you need a tea strainer!)  The computer in the store says they don't have your product in stock, but the internet might tell you where else to get it even if the sales assistant didn't think of checking for you. Your business partner might say you can't offer a particular service or you can't change the business model or the price structure, because that's how you've always done things.  I'm fond of saying "if it ain't broke, don't try and fix it" but sometimes it's fun to say "I'm going to give that a try – because I can!" and I am not good at taking no for an answer.  Sometimes as consumers we have to accept that we can't have everything we want the minute we want it, but there is never any harm in asking and challenging convention.
If you have a business idea, or you want to change the way you do business, I'd be delighted to be a fresh pair of eyes on your contracts or terms and conditions. Drop me a line at stephanie@kleymansolicitors.com and we can meet for tea, any kind of tea you like!
Kleyman & Co Solicitors.  The full service law firm.  It might not be broke, but that doesn't mean it doesn't need fixing!