The Diet Coke Saga

Oh, how sweet the Coke is at the Coca-Cola Museum in Atlanta!

If you know me well, then you know that I used to have a serious Coke habit (as in Coca-Cola not Cocaine).  I've been off the sauce since May 8, 2005.  That was Mother's Day and I quit cold turkey.  I didn't touch the stuff again until April of 2009 at the Coke Museum in Atlanta.  I was on a business trip and figured it was okay to enjoy that sweet goodness in the confines of the Coke Museum. I can't tell you how delicious it was.

I love to watch my co-workers make their trips to the Coke machine every day.  I love to hear them pop the top on their Coke.  I always drank straight from the can, but I love to hear that fizzy sound when they pour their Coke into a cup.  All this brings back happy memories for me.  That being said, I am one of those people that just can't hold my Coke.  From sun up to sun down, all I can think about is where my next drink is coming from.

Fast forward to January, I was about to have surgery and they told me that I couldn't take aspirin products.  I had a bad migraine the day before my surgery which would not allow me to take an Excedrin.  I had taken everything else and nothing would knock it, so I decided to make my own Excedrin-like combo.  I mixed Coke and Tylenol.  All that was missing was the aspirin.  I only drank a small amount of the Coke, because it was so sweet.  It just didn't taste the way I remembered.  It left a horrible after-taste.

Several weeks later, we were at the movies and Fred bought a drink for us to "share."  He bought Diet Coke.  He knows that I don't drink Diet Coke.  He kept offering it to me and I kept refusing it.  Finally, I was so thirsty that I had no other choice, but to drink it.  I thought it didn't taste too bad.  There was one problem.  I hadn't had carbonated drinks in so long that I felt like I was going to burp for the rest of the movie.  Not a good feeling!

About a week later, we were at a restaurant and Fred's drink kept getting pushed towards me.  I accidentally drank some of his Diet Coke.  It was really good.  I made the mistake of telling him that I enjoyed it.  This week he was on grocery duty and he must of had that on his mind.  Fred keeps Diet Mountain Dew stocked for himself, but drinks Diet Coke when he is out and about at restaurants.  He proudly let me know that he had stocked us up on Diet Coke.  For some reason, it has always bothered Fred that I only drink water.  Fred is always the pleaser and really wants to me drink Diet Coke with him!  I guess he thinks that can be "our" drink and we can bond over Diet Coke.

Clearly, he has forgotten all the heartache caffeine has caused us both.  All the emergency runs to 7-Eleven when we weren't stocked or I thought it was too flat.  All the times I thought we needed to pull over NOW on trips to feed my habit.  Worst of all, he has forgotten all the migraines, because I didn't get my Coke fix when needed.  All that aside, a Coke sure does sound good, right now!