One of the huge benefits of using this instead of `fetch()` is that it allows for someone to say:

``` ruby
    meth(:api_endpoint => options[:api_endpoint])
```

and have that work if `options[:api_endpoint]` isn't specified.

I've found over the years that the `||` mechanism for defaulting allows for more natural code in callers than having to protect against accidentally passing a `nil` for a value.