May 18, 1996

Traveling with Craig (Part III)

More travel hints from the Master Trouble-Maker.

I'm a sucker for those in-room hotel refrigerator servi-bar things. For those who haven't seen them, you've got a well-stocked refrigerator in your room. Every day (well, it's supposed to be every day) they check to see what you've consumed from it and charge you accordingly.

Typically, a can of pop costs about $2 from the servi-bar. While it's a bit pricey, it's not that much more than $1.50 from the machine down the hall, so I often buy stuff from the servi-bar. (Plus, I don't eat much for breakfast so grabbing an orange juice -- even at $3 -- is very convenient.)

Needless to say, most people are stingier than I am and they don't use the servi-bar. That means the stuff in there tends to sit for a long, long time. If the staff isn't paying attention, it's real easy for it to get out of date. So always check the dates on anything you get out of the servi-bar.

The Story of the South American Fruit Juice

At a hotel I was at recently, I noticed that the Ocean Spray canned orange juice had expired about a month before I arrived. I called the front desk and was told the servi-bar people were gone (it was Sunday afternoon) but that they'd take care of it. A few minutes later, room service showed up with three free fruit juices and a promise to fix the problem on Monday morning.

Monday afternoon, still no fresh juice. I called room service and was told the servi-bar people had gone home for the day (4PM) but that they'd take care of it. I pointed out that I was leaving on Wednesday, so if they couldn't take care of it now, it wasn't worth doing anything about.

Several minutes later, Jorge is at my door. He takes the two infringing cans and says he'll be right back. A half hour later he's back with two new cans.

It's Monday afternoon, and these two cans are dated two days earlier (Saturday). Noting my concern, Jorge explains, "Mr. Rairdin, these cans are actually fine. This product is made in South America (the cans did say "Concentrate from Brazil"). In South America, they put the date that they made the juice on the can. I'm from South America, so I know this is true."

"So this is the date the juice was canned?" I ask.

"Yes. It seems odd, but that's the way they do it back home in South America," Jorge responds.

"That's good to know, Jorge. So you're saying that these cans were filled on Saturday afternoon, then shipped via a very fast boat from Brazil in time to be served to me on Monday afternoon? That's quite a connection you guys have!"

"Well, Mr. Rairdin," Jorge is looking for words… "it's not actually the date they were manufactured, but rather it is the date that we are first allowed to sell the product. In South America, they are not allowed to put the product on the store shelf until that date."

"That makes a lot more sense, Jorge. It's good to know that these two cans are fresh. I appreciate you taking care of this." Then remembering that the expiration dates on the rest of the cans are months in the future I add, "But, Jorge, now I have another problem."

"What's that, Mr. Rairdin?"

"I have a refrigerator full of fruit juice that shouldn't be sold until next October (six months from now)! We'll have to get those cans replaced with some of these 'legal' ones!"

"Are they from South America?" he asks.

"I don't know, Jorge. But I'd rather be safe then sorry… tell you what… just have someone call me tomorrow."

You right. We sorry.

After Jorge left I called Ocean Spray (their 800 number was on the can). They were amused by the story and sent me some coupons for free fruit juice (2 free 64 oz and 2 free 16 oz cans). The next day room service delivered a fruit basket with a note "Mr. Rairdin: We checked. You right. We sorry."