Diet Coke in What's Happening

I’m always drinking a Diet Coke with my lunch and I mentioned to one of the guys in my new-hire class how I don’t really like drinking Aspartame, but it’s addicting and I crave it. He told me I should try seltzer water and casually mentioned that he would bring one in for me.

To my surprise he actually did bring one in for me today. I wasn’t really prepared to replace my delicious diet soda today, but his gesture was so thoughtful that I felt a slight obligation to try it.

I’m always overwhelmingly grateful whenever someone thinks of me or does anything for me. If I express my actual amount of appreciation it could come off as weird or maybe even insincere so I just took the can and reduced my feelings into a simple “Thanks.”

When lunch time came around I pulled it out of the fridge and cracked it open. I actually really liked it. It made me realize that I might be more addicted to the carbonation of the soda instead of the actual flavor.

I like working with people who are closer to my age. My last job was mostly baby boomers and it can be really hard to relate to them on any level. They would make fun of me everyday for the things I ate for morning break and lunch.

For morning break a lot times I liked to eat a variation between an apple, cashews, chicken and/or vegetables. They would say things like “You’re eating chicken for breakfast?!” while they were pouring syrup on a mound of pancakes. Sometimes if I was in the mood to reply I would say “You’re eating a socially acceptable version of a birthday cake for breakfast.” referring to their stack of pancakes. Most of the time this effort was futile; they didn’t have the intellect or self-awareness to interpret what I was saying.

I’m feeling pretty good the past couple days. Hopefully I can sustain all weekend and get a lot done.

Cheers.