dreyers is my drug

I've never been one to drink soft drinks.

Soda.

Pop.

Whatever you call it.

When I was young and my parents had just divorced - and money was tight for my mother - on the rare occasion we'd eat out, mom would discourage me from ordering soft drinks because they usually cost $1.00 and then, we'd be charged for refills. Mom further went on to tell me that there were TEN (10!!) teaspoons of sugar in a 12-ounce can of soda and that does nothing but rot your teeth.

So, I grew to love water.

Tap water with ice.

And a lemon wedge.

These days, I drink water all day long and almost always have a bottle of water with me. I don't even like soft drinks anymore and just the thought of drinking one makes me burp. My husband, on the other hand, is convinced that whenever he eats certain foods, nothing compliments that food better than an ice cold Coke. Much like Charlie insists on drinking coffee every morning, he insists on drinking Coke whenever he eats Mexican or Chinese food.

Have I written before about my husband's love of coffee?? The man absolutely cannot function without it in the morning. He will walk around befuddled and agitated until that first sip and then, a wonderful human being emerges from beneath his wrinkled brow.

Charlie can do ANYTHING when he's had a cup of coffee.

Charlie can do NOTHING until that first molecule of Starbucks French Roast is ingested.

The point being, I have seen first hand that people are addicted passionate about certain substances.

This week, I'm hosting a business meeting in San Diego. When I hosted a meeting several years ago, I remembered ordering soft drinks to have setup in our meeting room at the hotel for some of my co-workers and when the bill came due, I was appalled to see that my company was charged $3.00 per 12-oz bottle.

THREE DOLLARS for a 12-oz bottle of soda that would probably cost no more than $0.50 if bought in bulk at Costco.

So, when I set up this meeting, I just assumed that everyone would be content with having ice water. Surely they don't need soda. It's a rip off and it will rot their teeth. Besides, if they need a jolt of caffeine, there is fresh coffee stocked in canisters.

Today, during our Spanish Fiesta afternoon break, when they brought out fresh guacamole, multi-colored corn chips and churros, and large pitchers of ice water with lemon, I noticed that some of my coworkers were looking around and seemed confused. They were pointing fingers at the empty station on top of the snack table where it was clear soft drinks would normally be located. A few minutes went past and I could hear the murmurs.

"Where's the Diet Coke? Are they bringing out Diet Coke? Why haven't they brought out any Diet Coke yet? Where do I get a Diet Coke? I need a Diet Coke!!"

I finally confessed to the group that even though our company had record profits last year in the billions, I didn't order any soft drinks for the meeting. I thought that they were too expensive and I didn't think that anyone would miss them. Besides! They had a lot of sugar. Right?

Yet, when I looked in their eyes, I recognized the panic. The same kind of panic that grips me when it's 10:00 at night, the store is closed and Dear God, we're out of ice cream.

To rectify my wrong doing, I immediately called the Catering Department to order a large assortment of soft drinks STAT and I promised my co-workers that I would never deny them of their Diet Coke again.

And only then, did they let me out of the headlock.