I can almost guarantee that once I confess what I'm about to confess, I will lose friends left and right. Those who know me well know there's nothing I love more than a really cold, icy Dr. Pepper. Decanted is best, but I'll stoop to drinking it out of a plastic bottle or can, if need be. But that's not what I have to confess.What I have to confess is this: Of late, I have taken to drinking orange soda. Orange Crush, to be precise. In a pinch, Fanta Orange.
I know!! Gross, right?! What am I? Five?!
Seriously, folks, it's becoming a problem. So much so that this evening I was craving one so badly, Bee and I walked to the grocery store to buy Orange Crush.
That's bad. And the worst part of all this, I've sworn off Dr. Pepper in the last month or so. I haven't had a Dr. Pepper in the house since late April. (I did, however, consume a can the other night while at my parents for birthday dinner. Otherwise, I've been cold turkey on the stuff.)
I know why I've purged the Pepper, but I have absolutely no clue why I'm all over orange soda like a hoard of kindergarteners on pinata candy. I'm at a complete and total loss to explain it.
Well, that's not entirely true. I do know how and where it started and I'll tell you why: because Dr. Pepper in the fountain dispensers at 7-11, Five Guys & Fries, and just about every other serve-yourself retail location is abysmal.
It started at Five Guys & Fries a month or so ago. I stopped in for a quick bite in the middle of running a bunch of errands. As I stood in front of the soda dispenser, I thought, "I can't bear the thought of another inconsistent Dr. Pepper. They're either too soda-y or too syrupy. They're never just right and I'm in no mood to be disappointed today." That left me with several unfavorable options in beverages. I finally narrowed it down to either water or orange soda. As I already had a bottle of water in my car, I figured, what the heck. And I chose the orange. And I haven't looked back.
What I discovered is that, beer aside (and I have no personal experience with that. I'm going purely on anecdotal evidence from friends), nothing goes better with a greasy burger and fries like the sticky sweetness of orange soda. And now, that's all I get when I go to Five Guys or when we stopped the other day at Wawa on our way home from Richmond or wherever.I'm not sure what to make of all this. I don't even know how long this craving will last. I hope it will fizzle (no pun intended) and go flat (pun intended) quickly. I dropped Dr. Pepper cold turkey because I don't need the calories and caffeine. Lord knows, the same is true with the Crush.
In the meantime, pray for me. I'm off to suck face with a 12 oz. long neck in orange.
