During the past few weeks I've had the pleasure of dining out several times. While the meals have varied from Italian to Chinese to burgers, one noticeable trait connected all of these restaurants: I had to ask for a glass of water in each instance rather than having it served to me automatically.

Now, I don't want to go all "Andy Rooney" on the restaurant industry, but c'mon people!

I remember a time not so long ago when my waitress would arrive carrying enough glasses of water for each person at the table and then ask what we would really like to drink.

Today, it almost seems as if you need to be embarrassed when asking for a glass of water when dining out. What's next? Optional utensils?

Similarly, a new trait among waiters and serving staffs is to not write the order down. Instead, you can watch the servers take copious mental notes trying to remember "eggs benedict," "scrambled eggs, no hash," and "eggs over easy, no hash but 'yes' to diced potatoes." Oh yeah, three waters, too.

I'm not sure why this trend has developed, but take notice next time you dine out anywhere that does not serve nachos as a main course.

Maybe it is the need to impress us consumers or make us feel secure knowing that our order is locked up tight inside that steel drum memory of our waiter.

Restaurant managers and owners, I am going to let you in on a little secret. We don't care! In fact, I believe that if you need to write my order down so that it arrives in front of me correctly, take every measure necessary, whether that means a notepad, handheld computer, smoke signals or Gregorian chants.

The only thing that impresses me is having my order arrive promptly and accurately.

Not writing an order down is like sending Big Ben to Detroit in two weeks without a playbook or preventing him from watching films for the next two weeks so that he could anticipate what might happen. While Ben is good at his job, a little extra help is always nice.

I think there must be something more to the entire restaurant issue that I am clearly missing.

It used to be simple. Go to your favorite restaurant; a server would write your order down after bringing you water and then your food would arrive just the way you asked for it to be served.

Now, however, it seems to be more complex. Go to your favorite restaurant and wait for a server to ask what you want to drink. Request water. Wait for your water to arrive so that you can place your order. Waitress doesn't write down order. Order arrives, sometimes correctly, usually not. Return order and ask for more water. Wait. Repeat until order is correct.

In the past few weeks while dining out, the wait staff at four different restaurants was 0 for 4 on accuracy of delivery (getting my order right). Even Big Ben couldn't last too long in Pittsburgh with that record, right?

Maybe it's time to go back to simply ordering out and having the food delivered. After all, when I give my phone number they know where they are delivering and what my last order was. The odds are good that they will get my order right. And oh yeah, by the way, I have my own water.