(no subject)

I used to hate soda. I never drank it growing up, since it always seemed too syrupy-sweet and the bubbles creeped me out (and since my parents never bought any). I liked ginger ale, but that was about it. Eventually, I discovered that I liked weird yuppie fruity sodas, and even sometimes Dr. Pepper or root beer as long as it was ice-cold and still perfectly fizzy. Still, I stuck to drinking water or juice, since I knew I always liked them.

A few years ago, my sister-in-law Diane somehow managed to get me to try a Diet Coke, and it was a revelation: a non-sweet caffeinated soda! Lovely life-bringing caffeine in a cold drink, since not everybody is wonderful enough to carry iced coffee! It wasn't good, precisely, but it filled a particular niche really well. And then I started working here. Free cold soda (and juice and seltzer). Slowly, imperceptibly, I developed the habit of drinking almost a 6-pack a day. This was just pointed out to me by a coworker yesterday ("Hey, Molly, I restocked the fridge for ya!"), and I was a bit creeped out. I mean, it's the perfect environment to feed my addiction. There's as much coffee as I can drink, but as much coffee as I can drink will make me sick. But the soda, that's a much slower delivery mechanism. The constant supply of fresh cans means that as soon as the soda gets a little old (unfizzy or warm or something) I can pop open a new one. So, at the end of the day, my desk is littered with water bottles and 3/4-empties of Diet Coke.

Is it unhealthy? Is my mind going to rot away under all of the aspartame? Probably not. It still strikes me as a shameful little secret, though. Shhh! I guzzle Diet Coke! Don't tell the authorities, or they'll bust my no-tv-watchin', bike-ridin', spinach-eatin', dyke-bein' ass!

(no subject)

If only I lived in Palo Alto, I could apply for this job.