Friday, 26 December 2008

In Passing

Making too much of a good thing


Jonah Goldberg:

It was during the oughts that Americans started drinking more bottled water than beer.  As Susan McWilliams of Pomona College observes, you can tell something about a society that chooses clever water over humble beer.  Bottled water is personal, inward-driven.  Beer is social, outward-driven.  Beer gets the party started.   Water is the thirst quencher of choice for the solitary fitness addict, marching to the beat of his or her own drummer, digitally remastered for the iPod.
Well... maybe.

I do drink more bottled water than I did during the ’90s, and certainly I drink more bottled water than beer, but not because I’ve suddenly turned all inward-driven and new-agey.[1]   No, it's mostly out of convenience.

Because I drink most of my bottled water at work.[2]

The arrival of bottled water added a welcome choice to the drinks selection.  Oh, there was always the inevitable coffee, but before bottled water the “cold” choices in my workplaces were usually limited to soft drinks (calorie-ful with high fructose corn syrup or Artificially Sweetened for Chemical Aftertaste), good ol’ lukewarm curdley milk out of the breakroom fridge, or the occasional Enormous Jug of Training Beverage.  That, or a drink from the infamous Water Fountain Of Doom down the hall:

Urg.

Bottled water fits nicely in the community refrigerator, doesn’t go bad, and the half-liter bottles are a nice size for the desk.  When bottled water is available, I find myself drinking less: (1) coffee, especially during warmer weather and (2) soda, especially since the acquisition of thirty or so unwanted pounds.

As for social imbibition, beer remains my default choice.  If I consume less beer than before, well, it’s probably the combination of getting out less,[3] and drinking more Scotch.[4]

So I dunno. “Inward-driven” and “solitary” are the right sounds for making particular social commentary, but sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.


(Goldberg pointed to by IP.)
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[1]  at least, it’s my belief that it’s not the case.  Others may have other opinions, and YMMV.

[2]  ...a venue where beer-drinking is frowned upon. Usually.

[3]  “So get a life, why don’t ya.”  Yadda, yadda, shut up.

[4]  ...which I don’t believe reinforces what Goldberg is concerned about.

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