"It's okay. In America it's safe to drink tap water."

If I said that once, I said it 20 times on Saturday night.  I was helping at a friend's wedding (see post below), where at least half the guests were from Turkey (come here for the wedding).

The day was quite warm and even by that evening, it was warm inside.  Then the dancing started and people were very thirsty.  We had long since run out of the special drinks--but no problem; we had water.  And delicious water it was--tasted good, came out of the tap cold and delicious.  I myself drank probably gallon (because I was also hot and thirsty).

At one point early in the evening a guest came back (to the kitchen, where I was doing dishes) looking for water and I grabbed a cup and proceeded to fill it.  He gave me an odd look which I didn't interpret until another worker (from Italy) said, "Don't worry.  It's safe to drink tap water in America."  Ah, that's what he was worried about.  So, from there on, whenever I got startled or worried looks from the Turks, I assured them--tap water in America is fine, fine, fine.  Look, I'm drinking it (guzzle, guzzle).  Your friends out there are drinking it. It's really, truly fine.   Most agreed quickly.  One guy left without drinking, but came back about two minutes later (either he consulted someone else or his thirst was too great) and agreed to take nice, cold tap water.  He came back several times that evening.  :)   Only one man refused, absolutely refused, to partake.  His loss.   And so the night went.

That night at 11:15, I and my tired comrades headed to the car, the building clean and taken care of.  While others were settling into the car, one of the guys said, "Hey, have you heard this?" and proceeded to read us an email.  And email that we all had, coupled with voice mails and texts--but which none of us had received up to that point.  It was advising us, and at least another 2.5 million residents of the Greater Boston area, that a pipe had broken in the main water supply and an alternate, unpurified water source was being used.  It was safe for cleaning, etc.but NO drinking, brushing teeth, etc. Boil all water until further notice.  And, as we drove down the interstate--all through the city--there were signs (the kind that tell about emergency traffic situations) everywhere:  Boil Water Advisory.  Do Not Drink the water. 

I should end my story there, but I just can't because I'm me.  What are the chances?  Really.  How often have I ever, will I ever, spend hours serving water to dozens of people from another country?  Water from a tap, not bottles at a symposium.  How often?     How many times in my life have I been in a situation, in America, where tap water is unsafe to drink?     And to have them both happen simultaneously?   [As Lant pointed out the next day, a few hours earlier the water would have been fine; a few hours later we would have known.  The timing was incredible.]

I love that there were signs everywhere about it; I can only imagine what some of those people thought about me as they saw them.  Me and my poisoning inclinations. Luckily, I will never see them again. 

On further reflection the next day, I was extremely grateful that we didn't know.  We needed that water, badly.  Forget the maybes of possibly bad water, people for sure would have been sick from not drinking (myself included).  And we could not possibly have boiled and cooled off water quickly enough (no pots and no freezers, for one thing).  And the stores were wiped clean of all bottled water.  And, and.  I'm glad we didn't know.

But, please remember, "It's okay.  In America it's safe to drink tap water.  We drink it all the time."


Today, after a few days of inconvenience (and hysteria on the part of some), the water is again "safe" and life can go back to normal.