In the South East, they bring you sweetened (usually far too sweetened for my tastes) iced tea. This is amazingly universal.
I live in NC and have been probing the border for years.
For “nicer” restaurants, the universal sweet tea boundary seems to be precisely at the NC/VA border.
Plus I’m pretty sure the world’s simplest circuit would be able to up the wattage. This person would have to believe so many things didn’t work it’s kinda nuts.