When I was a kid, we called Coca-Cola soda pop, or "pop" for short. That's how you can tell that I was raised in the Midwest and not in Sacramento. Now, people from the East Coast tend to refer to carbonated beverages as soft drinks. I've heard that in the South, everybody calls a soft drink "Coke" regardless of whether one is talking about a 7-Up or cola.
Kids today don't realize that in the early 1950s, Coca-Cola came in glass bottles, not cans, and tasted much better from a drugstore fountain. There was also no such thing as Diet Coke. Because I grew up drinking Coca-Cola, I probably prefer Coke over Pepsi, but I'll take a Pepsi in a pinch. I think Coke is a little bit sweeter. And I drink at least several cans of Coke a day. Other people grab bottles of water on the go; I grab a can of pop.
Yesterday, I headed out to Lush Salon in Midtown Sacramento to get a haircut. I made an early morning appointment because my afternoon was booked, and I had to drive with Land Park clients to Clarksburg after lunch. I am taking a new listing in Clarksburg next week, so even though the grapes and birds in Clarksburg don't care what my hair looks like, I needed to get it cut. There's something about bangs in my eyes that drives me nuts. Those Pepsi generation women, they wear bangs in their eyes.
As I was leaving my home in Land Park, my husband was in the process of re-stocking the 'fridge with warm cans of pop. There was only one cold can left. Being the sweet guy that he is, he handed me the cold Coke. I tossed the unopened can of Coke on my passenger seat and zoomed off. Somewhere along I Street, the can of Coke flew off my passenger seat and hit the floor. OK, so I tend to zip along a little bit over the speed limit.
Navigating those series of traffic circles on I Street between 28th and 21st caused the Coke can to roll back and forth on the floor. I had to wait until I came to a red traffic light to grab it. I put my car into park, released my seat belt and groped under the front passenger seat. Ah, got it. Oh-oh! It was stuck. I yanked on it and EXPLOSION. It was caught on the spring under my seat. When I pulled it free, that spring pierced the can. Oh, man, why couldn't this Coke be in a bottle? Pop sprayed everywhere. The light was turning green. Cars had lined up behind me.
I quickly opened the driver's side door and zinged the can of Coke underneath my car, rolling it to the curb. The people in the cars behind me were probably wondering why I threw a can of Coke out of my car at the intersection. This was not a time to have my name engraved on my rear license plate. Tssk. Litterbug. I could hear their thoughts. I also realized that the guy in the car behind me knew: Elizabeth Weintraub, Land Park agent from Lyon Real Estate, just littered. I felt really guilty. But what would you have done?
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