The Soda of Life

As we pursue our dreams through the carbonated beverage of life, will our struggles with the unyielding twist-top of uncertainty make us go flat? Will the agitation of defeat shake us up until we explode? Or will we keep on trying until we reach our goals and then drink up?

One night I decided to buy a soda from the machine on my hotel floor. The multicolored monolith was like no other drink machine I’d ever seen. It was filled with a cornucopia of colas and un-colas. It had drinks that were fat free, sugar free, caffeine free, flavor free. Flavor free? That would be the bottled water.

The only down-side was it cost two dollars for a sixteen ounce beverage. Earlier that day I’d noticed that a CVS, just a couple blocks away, sold two liter bottles for less. But the hour was late and I was in stocking feet.

Since the mountainous beverage machine happened to be right where I stood, I stepped up to it. There is great truth to the adage, “Location, location, location.”

I slid my first dollar through the slot. The machine gave a friendly sounding, “Zzeet!” as the bill slid inside. Sadly, the next sound was, “Zzoop,” when the machine spit out my money. I examined my bill for any machine-rejecting folds and manipulated it back to a flat shape. And tried again.

Zzoop! Out it popped. I wanted to tell the machine, “Look, I’m not here to do origami, I just want a drink!”

It’s so bewildering when a vending machine refuses your money. You’re offering it legal tender, yet the machine rudely snubs your hard-earned cash. George Washington can cross the Delaware, but can’t stay inside a soda machine. It’s enough to put a damper on your evening.

On the next try, I must have done something right, because both dollars stayed inside the machine. I made my selection, body atwitter with anticipation, awaiting the rumbling sound from the bowels of the machine that indicated my drink was on the way.

Silence.

Maybe that selection was sold out. I tried a different flavor.

Nothing.

I tried a third flavor. After all, a lady can change her mind.

Still nothing.

Maybe there was a trick to it. Tap your heels three times and say, “Coke is the real thing. Coke is the real thing.”

I tried every button! Okay, every button except the water.

If that machine wasn’t going to give me a soda, then it better return my money.

I pressed the change return button.

Zoop. One dollar slid out.

Plink, plink, plink, plink. Four quarters dropped into the change slot.

With money returned, I could’ve huffed and stomped back to my room. That was when I remembered the immortal words of Madam Curie: “Life is not easy for any of us. We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained!”

So I  carried my money downstairs to the next floor’s soda machine.

I slid my dollar in the slot. Zzeet! Acceptance on the first try.

With breath held, I dropped in my quarters. The machine received them with a gracious sounding, “plip, plip, plip, plip.” Things were finally going my way!

I flexed my soda-selecting finger … and that’s when I saw it. Stickers had been placed above the selection buttons with a new price. Two dollars and fifty cents.

How could they charge different amounts depending on floor level?

There I stood, one floor lower than my “home-base” and all I had were those two dollars.

All right then, if this was the “exclusive floor” I would take my business elsewhere.

I pressed the change return, hoping prices were cheaper the next floor down.

I waited, but no dollar zooped back out. No quarters pinked into the change slot.

“Never give in,” Churchill said. “Never, never, never, never. In nothing great or small, large or petty. Never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense.”

Just like Churchill, I would not be beaten. I charged back up to my room, grabbed two more quarters and raced back down.

I dropped in that first quarter. It rolled straight through to the change return slot with a metallic plink. I tried the other quarter. Plink.

In 1893 Coca-Cola was advertised as a cure for headaches and exhaustion. After all I’d been through, I needed that Coke. It was medicine!

I was still fizzing with frustration when an older gentleman entered the alcove with his ice bucket. Still, I smiled. I didn’t want him to think I was a tourist. He smiled back and said, “Take your time.”

I almost said, “Buddy, we may be here all night.” Instead I confessed all. I told him about the new price, about my two dollars taken hostage inside the machine and how it further mocked me by not accepting my extra quarters. I even pressed the change return to show him that nothing was coming out of that machine.

In desperation I pressed the one button I hadn’t tried: the selection button.

Rumble, rumble, rumble. Thunk! A plastic bottle of Coke landed in the bin.

The man said, “Take it and run!”

So I did!

The moral to my story is this: When that carbonated beverage of life sends a challenge your way, try every avenue to reach your goal, even the unlikely ones. Just maybe, your dream will drop into your hand!