Thursday, May 2, 2024
Sam Houston
FROM MY FRONT PORCH
Sam Houston is the publisher of the Hood County News. He is also an actor, author, playwright, performer and entertainment producer/promoter.
I have a confession to make; I am a drinkaholic. I always have been, and I guess I always will be. No, I do not go to meetings, but if I don’t have a drink readily available and within arm’s length, the world must be off-kilter, or a nuclear war has started. I am not diabetic, and I do not have an unquenchable thirst, I simply like to consume a drink throughout the day, every day, all day long. It really doesn’t make a lot of difference what the liquid is, as Iong as it is available.
How did I get this way? Was it the catchy marketing like being part of the “Pepsi Generation” or having a “Coke and a smile”? Have I have been entrapped by catchy marketing and snared in the Madison Avenue loop of consumer traps?
As a very young boy, my “go-to” was milk. My mother would frequently complain I would drink a gallon of milk before she even got it home from the store. I would drink milk throughout the day, and then always with lunch and dinner. During the summer months, I remember Mom making sun tea and drinking quite a bit of it along with copious amounts of Kool-Aid. I did occasionally enjoy a cold soft drink, but I grew up when having soft drinks in the house was not as common as it is today.
When I went off to college, I developed a real passion for Pepsi. I would drink four or five 16-ounce bottles a day, and my refrigerator was always stocked with a ready supply. Of course, being a normal adolescent college male, I also consumed my fair share of ice-cold beer during fraternity “keggers” and social events.
I made it through high school, college and law school and never drank a cup of coffee. When I started to make fishing trips with some of my adult friends, they soon had me hooked on that black caffeine-laced liquid from South America. It is a blessing they were not using illegal drugs instead of coffee, because I am now addicted and probably consume a pot of coffee or more a day. Strangely, I stop drinking coffee around 10:30 a.m. or so, and then switch to some other form of drink.
Lately, my go-to drink has been limeade. I did a little research and learned that in England, way back in 1767, Joseph Priestly created the first carbonated lemonade and sold them to British customers via street vendors. Eventually, limes were substituted for lemons, and the limeade was born.
I usually score my limeade from Sonic, and while I like them plain, I frequently have Sonic add fresh strawberries. I also am a fan of a cherry limeade. They are refreshing and light, and somehow always seem to make the day brighter. My wife likes hers with cranberry flavoring, and my friend Mike likes it with raspberry. It seems everyone has likes to add a little twist to their drink and make it individualized. Of course, if you have ever been to a Starbucks, you already knew that.
When out with friends or perhaps after a tough day at work, I might have a cocktail, but most nights I open a can of diet Pepsi to drink with dinner and then nurse on until it is time to go to bed. It would seem unnatural to be watching TV without a drink nearby.
I have tried to analyze why I insist on having a drink in hand. Goodness knows I have spent a fortune over the last 50 years on soft drinks, tea, coffee, limeades, Gatorade, lemonade and more. Part of me knows all my body really needs is water, but I insist on sticking with what I like, what tastes good and what satisfies me. Of all the vices I could have, maybe this one is not so bad. Bottoms up!
Thought for the day: I have never overdrunk, but I have been overserved.
Until next time.
sam@hcnews.com | 817-573-7066, ext. 260
