The American Dream Is a Lie

A buddy of mine used to be a waiter at a chain restaurant back when he was in college. Needless to say, he has quite a few entertaining stories about his various experiences with rude and crazy customers. Some people are just weird.

But in addition to that, he can recount with ease some of the “behind-the-scenes” exploits of the wait/cooking staff that would probably make you shiver with disgust at what exactly goes on with food prep when no one is looking. I won’t get into any of the specifics to make you think twice about taking a loved one out to dinner on a Friday night, but I will mention one thing he told me that caught my attention and kind of made me smile.

It seems that when it came to the specific restaurant my friend worked at, getting a ginger ale for a customer was a bit of an annoyance if they asked for one. At the standard drink dispenser the waiters and waitresses would use to fill and refill beverage orders, the ginger ale fountain didn’t exist. Ginger ale could only be dispensed from the bar. So if anyone wanted a ginger ale, the wait staff would have to walk to the other side of the restaurant where the bar was and bother the bartender, who was constantly busy in his own little drink-ordering world. To say the least, it was aggravating for all the workers involved when it came to serving a ginger ale.

After a few weeks on the job, my friend got savvy and decided to perform a little experiment that would save him both time and irritation if he could pull it off. He made a bet with a fellow coworker that he could trick the customer who ordered a ginger ale into believing that what they were drinking was their desired beverage simply by filling their glass with 97% Sprite and a quick splash of Coke. The concoction would look roughly the same as a ginger ale, plus the sweetness of it would be a sufficient substitute for the other sought-after soda. If the customer would drink it and notice a drastic difference, he would simply apologize and go to the bar for the real thing…but if they didn’t notice, he would save himself tons of time and a lot of unnecessary trips to the disgruntled bartender behind the counter.

So what happened?

Well, the gamble paid off. My friend told me in the months and months he worked there, not one person could tell the difference between a normal ginger ale and the Sprite/Coke mix. I suspect it’s because people just expected that what they were drinking was something they had ordered, so their mind led them to believe they were consuming ginger ale and nothing else, even if it tasted different from what they would ordinarily expect from a ginger ale.

For some reason, I found this story to be completely fascinating when my friend told it to me. At first, it was hard to believe people wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between the real thing and the fake. But as I gave it some more thought, I began to understand why any unassuming restaurant patron would be duped by the faux ginger ale.

There really is no reason for us to be distrusting of our waiter or waitress when we go out to a restaurant, is there? They’re generally friendly and probably want a good tip, so why would they do anything that was purposefully deceiving when it came to what kind of food or drink I ordered? I have no doubts about their desire to serve and make me happy the best way they know how, so my blind belief in their integrity is warranted.

But from the story I’ve just shared with you, maybe it isn’t.

When it comes to believing the best in what the world will offer to you, we’ve all been duped. The popular belief that churning yourself through the “American Dream Machine” will produce joy and satisfaction is a lie.

We long for the outcomes the world advertises through the popular avenues of wealth, possessions, prominence, recognition, and fame. But expecting these roads to lead us to actual joy and genuine satisfaction is foolish. What we’ve ordered is not the same as what we’ve received, yet because it looks the same as the real thing and we trust the deliverer, we gulp it down without hesitation.

I can come up with one too many examples of people who have searched for joy and satisfaction through the things of this world, expecting to see those desires come to fruition, yet have wound up with devastating disappointment because the world’s promise of fulfillment ultimately proved hollow.

Women choosing the avenue of sex to receive love from a man. Men acquiring money in order to gain respect from their peers. High school students chasing the perfect academic record so they’ll get accepted by the right school that will ultimately lead to a joyful life. And on, and on, and on…

It’s a lie. It’s Sprite mixed with Coke.

I climbed the ladder of success to the top only to realize it was leaning against the wrong building. –Jeb McGruder, after being convicted in the Watergate Scandal

If what the world promises is a sham, then where does the real ginger ale come from? It comes from a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, of course.

Many Christians know this. And as you might suspect, people who don’t have a relationship with Jesus aren’t aware of the difference between the world’s empty promises and actual joy or satisfaction. Our job as followers of Christ is to point out the drastic differences and help them see what true satisfaction and joy can look like.

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. –Jesus speaking in John 10:10b