+Have You Been Drinking?

I was at lunch with my best friend a few days ago when it occurred to me that he was drinking kind of awkwardly. I observed his behavior, watching him only drink without a straw, without ice, and with every single soda mixed together inside of the cup. I asked him why he does some of these things, he said that he just can’t drink with a straw and he hates the ice. He also said that he hates sharing drinks; he can’t drink after anyone else. So I thought about it for a moment. I cannot drink out of the 2 liter bottles; I hate it. Usually I only like cans, although I will accept a fountain drink or something from a smaller bottle. At restaurants and fast food establishments, I have to have a straw. I won’t drink water unless I’m dying of dehydration. Isn’t this just a bit strange? What else do people do when drinking? Do people really stick their pinkies out? No they slurp for a reason? I asked around a bit and another friend of mine told me how he always has to have ice in his drink so he can chew on it. No matter what it is he has to have ice to chew on after finishing his beverage. Another girl will not drink anything warm with the exception of the drinks that are meant to be hot; coffee, hot chocolate, etc. I then did some research on my strange topic. Unfortunately, the words “drinking habits” all tend to swing towards alcohol, but after extensive Google use, I found a few articles that were exactly what I needed.

“At that point Steve reached over the side of his chair, presumably to pick up a cup of coffee. It’s poor form to eat in front of clients but many of us will sometimes have a beverage on hand. But when Steve returned to his natural sitting position, he wasn’t holding a glass or mug; rather, a 2-Liter bottle of Diet Pepsi. It looked particularly huge in his small hands. Thinking that he would be pouring it into a paper cup or glass, he surprised me further by simply chugging it straight from the bottle, without a trace of self-consciousness. It was as if he treated those family-sized bottles as his own personal allowance of cola for that session.

 I watched further as he continued to drink from the bottle every few minutes. When he stood up to walk the still invisible patient to the door, I realized it was 45 minutes later and the bottle was empty. Steve just tossed the plastic into the trash, a symbolic middle finger to the recycling community.

I’ve mentioned my own quirks and I’m sure I have plenty of others of which I’m not aware. However the last time I checked I wasn’t slurping down colossal bottles of Pepsi like a horse with a feedbag attached to its face. And the strangest part about it is that Steve is the last person I would imagine would engage in such gauche behavior. He prides himself on his impeccable office space, his luxury automobile and his tailored clothes. Is Steve some type of interpersonally awkward freak behind the therapy door? Unless I get some unusually impressive explanation (e.g., the Pepsi has magical therapy powers that only emerge if you drink right from a gigantic bottle), that’s what I’m going to assume from now on.”
(ShrinkLink)

“It's unclear whether UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida's daily habit is a form of superstition or self-torture, but every morning the Brazilian Shotokan karate master drinks his own urine. Revealing that he picked up the practice from his father, himself a karate master, the 31-year-old Brazilian has said he believes urine is a natural medicine that cleanses his body. While it sounds disgusting, Machida may be onto something—The Dragon has yet to lose a round in his professional mixed martial arts career.”
(UFC Heavyweight Drinker)

So we now have a shrink who has to have large amounts of Diet Pepsi in front of his clients and he has to drink it out of the bottle; and we also have a UFC Light Heavyweight Champion who drinks his own urine every night. I’m glad I’m not the only crazy one here. Pay attention to how you drink and how others drink now, you’ll chuckle at the silly things people do.