Hydrating in an audition

I am fascinated by the omnipresence of water bottles in auditions. No matter how short the aria (i.e. O mio babbino caro, Lieben hassen), it seems that more often that not, the singer will ask if the audition panel minds if he or she gets a drink before their next aria. In addition to this taking a bit of time away from your singing, it always makes me wonder what you will do in the middle of a long scene on stage (i.e. Susanna, Act II finale, Figaro). I know, I know, you can plant a bottle behind rocks, etc, but let's face it, that's usually not practical. I am fully aware that this is a case of me saying "back in my day, we didn't have water bottles - we sang twelve arias in a row and were happy to do it!!" In any case, just an observation......