DEAR MISS MANNERS: Whenever I visit a coffee shop and approach the order-taker, I say something along the lines of, “I’d like an iced tea” or simply, “An iced tea, please.” Over the past few years, however, I’ve noticed that no one else does that anymore. Instead, they frame their orders as a question: “Can I have …?”
It seems odd to ask a shop if it’s okay to order something or to take my money. It also seems a bit juvenile, like a child visiting a friend’s home and politely asking for a glass of water from the friend’s mother, who is not a paid server.