So, Pepsi or Coke and does it make a difference which one?

[Stringtyer]

The Wal-Mart parking lot story is such a great example of what you can learn about human nature when you simply sit and watch. Life is so very interesting when you have a sense of curiosity, a sense of humor, compassion for the life situation of others, and the time think about what you are seeing. I know that the world is a busy place - perhaps too busy - and that most people simply don't have the time to just look around. I'm fortunate to have had a good work life and am now retired with the ability for casual observation. Sometimes my brain comes up with some interesting back-stories of what I am seeing. Remember the late, great Yogi Berra said "you can observe a lot by watching".

As for Coke versus Pepsi, I have to come down on the side of Pepsi since it was developed in my home state of North Carolina. In an effort to shed a few pounds, I turned to Diet Coke. Diet Pepsi had a taste that I just didn't care for. I went through quite a few Diet Cokes for several years until I realized that the aspertame had the potential to cause more problems than my being slightly overweight could ever cause. Like some others here, I quit drinking any sodas at all about three years ago. My drink of choice now is water ... sometimes that water has been exposed to some malted barley, yeast, and hops; sometimes it has been run through coffee grounds.

Since it's a rainy day here, I think I'll brew another pot of coffee, pour myself a cup, and head over to Wally World for some people watching.

 

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[DeepseekerADS]

No soda pops for years now - I see it as unhealthy as all get up = rotted teeth and obesity. It is water or tea to be found in my fridge. One cup of coffee a couple times a week.

 

[Rebel - KGC]

I used Coke to get corrosion off my car batteries; it WORKS!

 

[DeepseekerADS]

As a further note, all the big soda drinkers in my life are now gone. My younger cousin Earl - drank a 12 pack of Coke every single day all his life after his teens - passed away last week in a year's long battle with Prostate Cancer. In fact, I view it as "hurrying death". Slow suicide.....

 

[Rebel - KGC]

Sorry to hear that...

 

[DeepseekerADS]

Sorry to hear that...

Hey my friend, sometimes maybe it's harder to live longer than those you care about.

 

[Megalodon]

I like good strong tasting ginger beer. Not ginger ale, ginger beer. One can get naturally brewed stuff without a lot of junk in it. Still a lot of sugar, can't drink a lot of them. That and home brewed root beer with no preservatives added. I am lucky enough to live a hundred miles from a PA Amish market where they sell it and a couple times a year drive down there for home smoked bacon, double smoked pork loin, root beer, and pastries. Going next week in fact. YUM!

Ginger is good for those who suffer motion sickness. I've never been seasick, but I always kept some ginger candy in my boat for guests.

 

[Kace]

Unfortunately stories like this happen Everywhere...No wonder kids get so messed up.

I was staying at the Peninsula in New York and a similar (but different) situation happened with a man towards his daughter while her mother...I use that term loosely, stood by watching him verbally berate the little girl who was in tears. We were all at the elevator and she pushed the button again...That's what set him off.

I asked the guy if it made him feel like a man to yell at a little girl....Over Nothing! Not only did he launch on me, but then the wife suddenly woke up and got mad at me because I said that to her husband...He then yelled at her for not letting Him handle this..lol!

I looked at her and SHE Was Cowering...It dawned on me that the little man probably beat on both of them...That's just a guess but it was obvious he verbally abused both. I looked down at the little girl and she gave me a slight smile... out of her father's sight.

This story reminded me of that night and how sick it made me. I hate seeing parents or anyone attack or abuse children, older people or anything helpless.

Pepsi would be my Choice between the two if I drank pop. I could never stand Coke unless it was from Sonic in a Route 44...That was because of their ice which is the best Ice Ever and they don't carry Pepsi. lol!

Thanks for the story Dirt. Walmart is probably the best people watching places on earth!

Kace

 

[old digger]

I don't drink either. But I remember when I was a youngster that we would get these packets with two half-dollar sized pill-looking tablets (usually Root Beer flavored) and drop them in a glass of water. They weren't too bad tasting, especially when your a kid.

 

[Stringtyer]

The story of the little girl in the elevator reminds me of an event that happened in my presence. I was at the local Food Lion and while roaming the aisles, I approached a father with a little boy - the boy was about 9 years old. The boy did something that displeased his father and the man slapped the boy in the back of the head a little harder than necessary to catch his attention. He also said some pretty harsh things to the kid about his behavior. I let it go for a while.

The longer I stayed in the store, the more it bothered me that the man had hit the boy in the head. I approached the father - out of his son's sight - and told him that, while it is certainly none of my business how he disciplines his child, I thought it was completely inappropriate to hit a child in the head. I went on to tell him that I may end up teaching his child when he got to high school and that I preferred that the child not be brain damaged.

The man apologized and said that I was right. He said that it was perfectly OK to do what he had done in the culture they were from but he understood that he shouldn't continue that tradition. I thanked him, we shook hands, and left. I hope the kid didn't get hit again.

 

[dirtlooter]

The story of the little girl in the elevator reminds me of an event that happened in my presence. I was at the local Food Lion and while roaming the aisles, I approached a father with a little boy - the boy was about 9 years old. The boy did something that displeased his father and the man slapped the boy in the back of the head a little harder than necessary to catch his attention. He also said some pretty harsh things to the kid about his behavior. I let it go for a while.

The longer I stayed in the store, the more it bothered me that the man had hit the boy in the head. I approached the father - out of his son's sight - and told him that, while it is certainly none of my business how he disciplines his child, I thought it was completely inappropriate to hit a child in the head. I went on to tell him that I may end up teaching his child when he got to high school and that I preferred that the child not be brain damaged.

The man apologized and said that I was right. He said that it was perfectly OK to do what he had done in the culture they were from but he understood that he shouldn't continue that tradition. I thanked him, we shook hands, and left. I hope the kid didn't get hit again.

you may have bettered the boy's life by doing that. I strongly believe in discipline but all within reason. I also think that some carry things to the extreme. However, I knew a couple of boys (years ago) that were going down a dark path when they got the daylights beat out of them, totally changed their lives for the better. Kind of like the "Blanket parties" in basic training LOL.

 

[nomad 11]

I drink a soda one time a year; but it is always Tab.

OH ? that must be a curse ? i did'nt know that was even made yet. incidentally how many pull tabs do you dig then ? would you mind coming over and digging mine for me ?

 

[cyperpc]

Coke 1000% The New Coke will have Marijuana in it mark my words this date !

 

[nomad 11]

The story of the little girl in the elevator reminds me of an event that happened in my presence. I was at the local Food Lion and while roaming the aisles, I approached a father with a little boy - the boy was about 9 years old. The boy did something that displeased his father and the man slapped the boy in the back of the head a little harder than necessary to catch his attention. He also said some pretty harsh things to the kid about his behavior. I let it go for a while.

The longer I stayed in the store, the more it bothered me that the man had hit the boy in the head. I approached the father - out of his son's sight - and told him that, while it is certainly none of my business how he disciplines his child, I thought it was completely inappropriate to hit a child in the head. I went on to tell him that I may end up teaching his child when he got to high school and that I preferred that the child not be brain damaged.

The man apologized and said that I was right. He said that it was perfectly OK to do what he had done in the culture they were from but he understood that he shouldn't continue that tradition. I thanked him, we shook hands, and left. I hope the kid didn't get hit again.

reminds me when i was in catholic school. guess i still found my way here ? i dont know ? where were you when i was a kid ? you would of had to be a real man to stand up to those nun's ?

 

[Megalodon]

reminds me when i was in catholic school. guess i still found my way here ? i dont know ? where were you when i was a kid ? you would of had to be a real man to stand up to those nun's ?

Nobody really stood up to the nuns. They were assumed to be doing God's work. If that involved whacking hands with rulers...oh, well...
Now some of the Franciscan Brothers knew something about extracting confessions.

 

[Megalodon]

The advantage of such strong discipline (that seemed excessive then) was order, something in very short supply today. My wife retired from science teaching at a young-looking 60 y.o. and the main reason was the lack of student discipline and order in the public school. Low pay is often cited as the main reason for high turnover, but I believe the ridiculous lack of order and support are important reasons as well.

The Nun who taught my kindergarten class in 1960 taught my grandfather in 1901. I remember my first day, over 58 years ago, when a fellow student had his mouth violently washed out with a bar of soap over a galvanized tub in front of the class. The class was stunned by this spectacle - but we didn't move a muscle or speak out for the rest of the year. Violence against kids may bring about order in the short term, but it also teaches hatred of authority.

Somewhere between these two extremes, there must be a happy medium.

 

[Stringtyer]

reminds me when i was in catholic school. guess i still found my way here ? i dont know ? where were you when i was a kid ? you would of had to be a real man to stand up to those nun's ?

OK, I'm not Catholic nor did I go to a Catholic school but I had plenty of friends who went to St. Patrick's (or, as they called it, Our Lady of Perpetual Guilt) and shared stories of the sisters "doing G.d's work". Based on their stories, there is not way on this good, green earth that I would tangle with one of those ladies. You have to take that up with your parents.

My mother was no stranger to the concept of making me get my own switch when I needed discipline. I made the grievous error of bringing a switch that was too small and I was dispatched to find a more suitable instrument of discipline. I went to my dad's barber shop and brought back a razor strop thinking she wouldn't use it. I was wrong. Just one quick (but relatively harmless) whack across my tuches helped me understand the error of my ways.

Oddly enough, that severe discipline has probably served you well most of your life. I know that I'm thankful for my parents training me in the way I should go.

 

[Stringtyer]

The advantage of such strong discipline (that seemed excessive then) was order, something in very short supply today. My wife retired from science teaching at a young-looking 60 y.o. and the main reason was the lack of student discipline and order in the public school. Low pay is often cited as the main reason for high turnover, but I believe the ridiculous lack of order and support are important reasons as well.

I know that I am making too many posts on this thread but so many interesting topics are being brought up. This is one that hits so very close to home for me. I taught high school for 15 years after a 27 year career in engineering. Even in North Carolina (who's legislature talks a good game but doesn't really give a rosy red rat's rear about teachers) I made fairly decent money - even though I didn't get a raise for the 7 years before I retired. I enjoyed teaching and was very good at it. Based on test scores, my students out performed everyone in the state on standardized testing for Drafting and Engineering.

Many signs that it was time to retire presented themselves. For example, my curriculum is one that is best taught by lecture, demonstration, guided practice, and independent practice. The state wanted me to re-create my methods to work on-line because "that's the way kids want to learn". What kids don't know is what they don't know. The coup de grace was when it became apparent that I could do nothing to discipline my students and that their parents did not support me when their child acted up or acted out in class. As soon as I hit 65 and could collect my full retirement and was close enough to full Social Security, I pulled the trigger and left.

I just couldn't continue to work in an environment where the inmates were allowed to run the asylum.

End of rant.

 

[dirtlooter]

My father would make me go get the "Belt" out of the broom closet, that was when it was his turn. mom used the switch of course and yes, I had to go cut my own. As a small kid, we weren't allowed to speak until spoken to in my grandfather's house. As the oldest kid, I got my butt wore out whether or not I had anything to do with it because "I should have prevented it." However, I know that all of that kept me out of more serious trouble and I had a respect for the law and those that enforced it as well as our military. When dad got thru with you, you made darn sure that it never happened again. I did try to run once but as he reminded me, I had no where to go and I had to come home sometime, so I circled back and got it over with.

 

[Megalodon]

Stringtyer - Yours was the most important post of the thread and one in which I can strongly identify, but yes, we did hijack it so we should let it get back to the important topic of coke v pepsi - LOL.

I'll ease back on-topic by noting that when young, I would enjoy a rare vanilla coke at a soda fountain. I liked to order a "double" shot of the vanilla syrup. Otherwise, my bottled choice was neither coke nor pepsi, but orange nehi - which I stopped buying from the outdoor soda machine when the price of a 10 oz bottle went from 10 to 15 cents and I quit in outrage. Is there an orange nehi v orange crush thread?