Apparently I’m an elitist drinker?

I’m not sure what makes me an elitist though.  Is it the look I get when I order a ‘Bombay Sapphire’ Martini and the bartender looks at me with big vacant eyes and you can hear their mind sort of going “Whaaaaa?”  Then they sort of look at that bottle of ‘Martini & Rossi’ Vermouth gathering dust and you can see them wondering if that’s what I want.  And this wasn’t just the bartender.  This was the waitress, bartender, and manager!

Or is it that in my mind I’m thinking that they’re a moron?

This is not an idle imagination, this actually happened to me, twice, on my recent trip to Scotland.  Mind you, this wasn’t in the city center of Glasgow or Edinburgh where I’ve had no problem.  But it wasn’t in the far hinterlands of the Outer Hebrides where one might excuse a local beer tender.   This was in a middle sized tourist / seaside / fishing town.  This is the largest town in the highlands with 10,000 locals and untold numbers of tourists.  (I’ll keep the name of the place to myself to protect the ignorant.)

Considering that Scotland produces 70% of the Gin produced in the UK, you would think that a Martini would be universally recognized.  Or does everyone order G&T?

Seriously though, if you’re a bartender at a local bar serving beer to locals 98% of the time whose never seen a movie, read a book, or finished High School, I can understand perhaps not knowing what a Martini is.  But other than that, you absolutely should at least know that a Martini is a drink unto itself.

Or am I really a Martini elitist?  If so are we a dying breed?