Beverage Evolution

Growing up, my worst-habit beverage of choice was Diet Coke. It's what my mom drank when I was little so when I was allowed to drink soda, that's what I went for. I never thought about it. I was never steered in any other direction. We sometimes just embrace what's familiar. I felt very grown up drinking Diet Coke. It's what all the moms were drinking.

When I was 17 years old, I started to consider what I was personally interested in and started breaking free from the influences around me. For instance, I had always assumed I was a Republican because that's what most of the people around me were. The summer of my junior year, I attended Girls State (a week away at a college with girls from all over the state that run a mock government starting from cities to counties to state representatives).

As we really dived into the particulars of politics, I knew for certain I'm not a Republican. My favorite candidate for governor was a Democrat but I didn't really feel like that fit me 100% either.

I began my journey as a political independent. During this time, I branched out on drinks and started trying some new things. The drink I tried and loved the most was Pepsi.

It checked all my boxes. It was cola. It was incredibly sweet. I started to taste a huge difference between fake sugar and the fully loaded high fructose corn syrup and strongly preferred the latter. Plus they sold it over crushed ice at our school store so I could combine a delicious drink with the dreadful duty of attending school and it made the school day seem a little less daunting. They also had it at Hogi Yogi and Sconecutter, the places my best friend and I frequented on a regular basis. From the time I was 17 years old until the time I was 40 or 41, my hard beverage of choice was Pepsi. When you pick the same drink for over 20 years, people tend to accept it as part of your identity. However, a few years back, it stopped being my beverage of choice. It was tasting too sweet for me, got flat too easily, was harder to get at restaurants than its competitor and just didn't float my boat any longer. That relationship needed to end. I strongly and unhesitatingly crossed over into the Coca-Cola space. If I have the choice, I actually prefer cherry vanilla Coke but regular Coke and vanilla Coke are great as well.

The people that have known me for ages are having a tough time realizing I've changed and I can't blame them. My sis-in-law finally told me that I'm right-Pepsi is the best drink. I had to laugh and apologize because now that she's come around to Pepsi, I've jumped to the Coke ship. My brother buys me a few Pepsis throughout the year and mentions it being my favorite from time to time. I've told him a couple times that I switched but it hasn't registered with him and I'm still impressed with his thoughtfulness and kind gestures. This has just made me think about how linked our long-term thoughts and habits are with our identity. I guess now would be the time to admit that my political stance has changed as well. I'm a Constitutionalist.

I haven't been in the past. I didn't know or study the Constitution or its evolution of execution in our country. The more I've studied it, the more I can't imagine being anything else. The one thing about politics though is when I didn't go to either side, Republican or Democrat, people didn't tend to link me to my political affiliation. Just like if my favorite drink had been apple beer, people probably wouldn't really link me to that or try to buy it for me. Sometimes we like what we like and then one day we are in a new place.