25 + 20 points
Fortress of Solitude by AzRaeL
May 13th, 2008 11:40 AM
Pepsi.
How could I avoid being utterly addicted to this crisp, sweet, horribleformeyetsodifficulttoresist fizzy beverage of the gods, when its birthplace and my birthplace share the same state lines? Where I am from, every sort of soda is called 'a Pepsi', regardless of actual brand (Leave it to Southerners to both simplify and complicate things all at once).
The beginning was so simple. A small child hangin with his daddy at the machine shop. Every morning was a cold pepsi in an aluminum can and a 'nab' (which you really should try). It became such a staple that once I moved on into high school, I had a pepsi in a can and an egg and cheese biscuit on my way to class every morning, usually wolfing the food down at 100 miles an hour yet somehow taking time to both savor the delicious nectar in that can and sing RENT at the top of my lungs as well.
Then, once I left what I knew to be Pepsi-rich lands and came to the great, hideous, health concerned place that is called 'California', a place full of secret...dare I say it...coke lovers....and riddled with horrible warnings on how soft drinks are bad for one's health....the sheer fact that there was NOT pepsi in every store sort of reduced my intake.
Then I met hippies.
They made me go cold turkey. This was also during a breakup. It is all still very foggy.
A year and a half passes with no Pepsi. I have convinced myself that life is, in fact, better without it.
Suddenly, I begin working in an office building with a Lee's Deli nearby. Lo and behold...they have Pepsi in a can. Fully. Stocked.
I also begin living in the Mission, and what do I find in every convenience store? Blessed Pepsi!! (Explained, by my cuban friend, that Latin people also love Pepsi like Southerners do...bless them!)
I fell off the wagon...but more of a stage fall than a drop to the depths. I need Pepsi in IV form from time to time, especially when I need a taste of that comforting 'home' sensation, but no longer am I curled up clutching the can and whispering 'The precioussssssss'....
How could I avoid being utterly addicted to this crisp, sweet, horribleformeyetsodifficulttoresist fizzy beverage of the gods, when its birthplace and my birthplace share the same state lines? Where I am from, every sort of soda is called 'a Pepsi', regardless of actual brand (Leave it to Southerners to both simplify and complicate things all at once).
The beginning was so simple. A small child hangin with his daddy at the machine shop. Every morning was a cold pepsi in an aluminum can and a 'nab' (which you really should try). It became such a staple that once I moved on into high school, I had a pepsi in a can and an egg and cheese biscuit on my way to class every morning, usually wolfing the food down at 100 miles an hour yet somehow taking time to both savor the delicious nectar in that can and sing RENT at the top of my lungs as well.
Then, once I left what I knew to be Pepsi-rich lands and came to the great, hideous, health concerned place that is called 'California', a place full of secret...dare I say it...coke lovers....and riddled with horrible warnings on how soft drinks are bad for one's health....the sheer fact that there was NOT pepsi in every store sort of reduced my intake.
Then I met hippies.
They made me go cold turkey. This was also during a breakup. It is all still very foggy.
A year and a half passes with no Pepsi. I have convinced myself that life is, in fact, better without it.
Suddenly, I begin working in an office building with a Lee's Deli nearby. Lo and behold...they have Pepsi in a can. Fully. Stocked.
I also begin living in the Mission, and what do I find in every convenience store? Blessed Pepsi!! (Explained, by my cuban friend, that Latin people also love Pepsi like Southerners do...bless them!)
I fell off the wagon...but more of a stage fall than a drop to the depths. I need Pepsi in IV form from time to time, especially when I need a taste of that comforting 'home' sensation, but no longer am I curled up clutching the can and whispering 'The precioussssssss'....
