I tend to see a lot of dichotomy in the world - good and bad, this or that, if you're not with us, you're against us. Look at all the examples in real life - the two political parties, Pepsi vs. Coke, KU vs. KSU. But it seems to me that, when it comes to what people drink or don't drink, there is a certian pride, even snobbery. It comes from the strangest places, but it seems to divide people into two classes - those who drink it and those who don't. For my part, I partake of all three of the concoctions listed below, and quite proudly so. Perhaps it is because of this that I notice the pride of those who abstain. Judgment.
Pop
I could actually say there are three classes of people - those who drink pop, those who drink diet pop, and those who don't drink pop at all (and those who call it soda and those who call it Coke). I drink regular pop, and all flavors (except Coke). Yum! The sugar, and to some extent caffeine, really makes my day. I drink root beer as though I am a connossieur, trying it at different locales. I know which types of pop taste best with different types of food. Pepsi goes well with popcorn and pizza (ANY pop goes well with pizza). Root beer and Mexican go well together. Dr. Pepper is good with a nice steak dinner.
If anything, I may look down on the people who drink Diet Pop. I don't understand what kind of game they're playing. I'd be the first to admit that pop is insanely bad for you, which is why I want mine loaded up with sugar. If I am going to die from it, I want to go down happy. To me, diet pop is worse than tasteless - it tastes bad. And the sugar also keeps me accountable. If I know it is going to my waist, I will drink in moderation. Oftentimes diet pop drinkers overindulge, without realizing that there are other detrimental effects of pop besides sugar.
But all pop drinkers are looked down on by those who don't drink pop. Time after time I remember offering pop to someone, only to hear a nasty, "Oh, I don't drink pop." I mean, sometimes it's nasty. Sometimes I suppose it's meant to be a neutral statement, but it just feels that way. I mean, why can't they say, "No thanks." Instead, they load a world of meaning into one little comment. "I'm a fitness and health buff who has trained myself to LOATHE sugary drinks in favor of water water water and I don't drink little fizzy drinks designed to bust my diet and add ten pounds to me." Every time I encounter these people, it's like overhearing someone slam my favorite movie. I just want to slink off into the corner and sip my grape soda until it's time to go home.
On the other hand, I have met former pop drinkers who say the same thing. But for them, it's a statement of how far they've come. For them, "I don't drink pop." is like saying, "I used to be 100 pounds overweight and one sip away from a coronary, so I broke the habit cold turkey 10 years ago and now I don't drink pop at all." But the other crowed is so much bigger. They are the same people who won't consider eating at any fast food establishment. I believe in moderation - yes, my pop drinking needs to be toned down, but I can indulge in pop and fast food every now and then without severely endangering my health.
Coffee
I've been an insider and outsider of "Coffee Clubs." You know, those people who go to coffee houses and sit and talk for hours about science and philosophy and religion. They know the different types of beans and brews and can double as their own barristas. For some reason, these people tend to be the ones most likely to drink their coffee plain, or with minimal additives. They also drink TONS of coffee - like six cups a day or more - and you are as likely to see them in the coffee house at night as in the morning. Sometimes people develop these habits because they need caffeine to keep them going on their busy schedules. In my case, I liked the coffee house atmosphere.
Then again, I drink my coffee with lots and lots of milk and sugar. Before I joined the coffee drinkers, I was a casual coffee drinker. Usually I partook of that nasty stuff offered at church events because it was something different than water. If there had been more lemonade in those days, I probably never would have developed a taste for coffee. Still, I learned to like it, and in college I just loved going to the coffee house to study. I still like the thought of sitting in a dark corner with a book on a rainy Saturday morning with a coffee in hand listening to jazzy music. Aaahh!
For a while I was on the anti-coffee-snob side of the table. I would drink it, but I never wanted to become reliant on it. I didn't want to need a cup of coffee (or two or three) in the morning to get me going. Yet here I am today, drinking two cups a day on average and walking into work most mornings grumpy because I'm going to have to wait 15 minutes for the first cup to brew.
But my anti-addiction stance was never as strong as some I have seen who don't drink coffee. Like the non-pop drinkers above, they say it with a certain pride. What's worse, there is an implied addition to their statement that they don't drink coffee. "And I don't understand those who do." Well, in fairness the taste is a learned one - who likes it on the first try? And it gives you HORRIBLE breath. Also, when I first encountered espresso, I couldn't stand the jitters it gave me. I still can't to some extent - it was too powerful. Non-coffee drinkers don't upset my sense of self esteem as much as the non-pop drinkers, but they sometimes have to add little snippets to their statements. "I don't drink coffee, I drink TEA." As though this makes them somehow more refined? I guess it is back to the British vs. the Americans when it comes to morning drink of choice.
Alcohol
People could write books on this testy drink, and I believe the 18th and 21st Amendments attest to how controversial alcohol is. But I'm talking specifically about pride here. Let's start with the teetotalers. Now, I believe you can be against personally drinking alcohol yourself without being a snob about it. But there are people who look down their noses at even moderate drinkers. Someone once told me that if I abstained from drinking among a group of drinkers, I would appear snobbish. Part of that may be just being too sensitive, but part of it may be bad past experience with non-drinkers. It's very easy to get into a list of all the negative impacts of alcohol with someone who is drinking, but non-drinkers need to consider all the facts before they judge. Is the person driving? Is he drunk? How often does he drink and why? A moderate amount of alcohol may actually have beneficial health impacts, so the drink should not be ruled out all together.
On the other side of the spectrum are binge drinkers. These are the people who go out every weekend and drink to get drunk and then go home, sleep off the hangover, and start all over. It is hard for me to understand why someone would want to spend their free time engaging in activities that are designed to make them forget said free time and end up sick the next morning. Not understanding, I avoid these situations like the plague, but when I go I try to have a drink in my hand - to avoid offending them. Still, it's odd that on the days they are sober, I'm the one who feels like an outcast. Everyone had so much fun last night, but no one is able to quite tell me why. It's so hard to feel the outsider - perhaps this is what non-coffee drinker feel like when everyone is over at the coffee pot at the office.
Among moderate drinkers, there are drinking snobs as well. I absolutely do not like beer - ugh. I have an almost involuntary reflex to it - ugh. This disdain (of the flavor, not the concept really) makes me a "wine snob" I suppose. I like the idea of wine. I like the idea of pairing it with food - and cheese, I LOVE cheese - of drinking it with a good book and maybe some chocolate, of visiting wineries because they are always in the most beautiful parts of the world, of going to wine tastings and so on and so forth. It's such a social drink but also relaxed. It's versatile. It's pretty. It can be sweet. But it does have a certain snobbishness to it, doesn't it? I mean, it just reeks of "the finer things" in life and contrasts with the idea of a "beer after a hard day's work." It implies a quieter, nerdier type of person who wants to come home and read a book, as opposed to a louder, more boistrous person who wants to go to BWW and watch sports. So from that aspect, I suppose it is kind of snobby.
Now, the underlying point of my story here is to do all things in moderation. Don't look down on people who drink pop, coffee, or alcohol because in moderation there is nothing inherently wrong with any of these drinkgs. But if you are a drinker of these, be careful. Too much of any of these can be very very bad for you and for others. Oh, and the other point is that maybe we should all find more important things to take pride in than what we do or do not drink.
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