i'm lovin' It

Have you ever poured a fountain drink that didn't taste quite right? Diet Coke has a hint of Root beer? We have a joke in our family about dispensing a fountain drink. It is not as simple as putting ice in a cup and pushing the cup against the lever and letting the precious brown liquid flow in to the cup. First, you dispense some ice and check the amount of ice. It's never correct on the first try, so you dump a few cubes out and then add a few more. Sometimes this process is repeated until the right amount of ice is in the cup depending upon atmospheric conditions and the type of cup. Hot weather means more ice, Styrofoam cups mean less ice. In our family there's a winter ice ration and a summer ice ration. Then you serve a small amount of soda in the cup and taste the mix to make sure it's alright. As I perform this ritual I often think these actions resemble tasting a vintage of wine (not that I've done that but I've seen it done.) If the mix meets your approval you commit and fill the cup. Then you take a few sips, because sips are free, and refill the glass before proceeding to pay for your drink.

Well today Charlotte, Laura and I were having lunch at McDonald's. I went for refills and at the soda fountain I and met the Coke man. He was measuring the mix ratio of the fountain. I love to know how stuff works so I asked him about what he was doing. I first asked him if he was cleaning the fountain and was disappointed to hear that he wasn't. Have you ever wondered how often those machines are cleaned? I have, and it kind of disturbs me, I have issues I guess. Then the Coke man and I discussed ratioing a soda fountain which was cool to learn and appeared more technical than I expected. I returned to the table smiling and told Charlotte there was someone at the soda fountain she'd like to meet. Uncertain what I could mean she went to the fountain and before I knew it she was laughing and chatting with the Coke man.

As it turns out McDonald's has a contract with Coke to handle everything about their soda fountains, with the exception of cleaning them which the Coke man said they do themselves. I laughed as Charlotte and the Coke man discussed the many companies who handle their own soda fountains and the Coke man explained that's why they never taste quite right. It was quite a moving moment for Charlotte to talk to the "expert" and have all her suspicions confirmed.

So next time you enjoy a soda at McDonald's know that the ratio of soda water to syrup is professionally set. (I can't believe this is another post about soda but this even made us laugh and of course when we sat back down at our table we said, "we're bloggin' this.")