Let me set the stage for you a bit. As you remember, the post- 9-11 world was a crazy place. Stocks and business were down, people were more caring but also more on edge, and it seemed very likely that another and bigger attack would occur (say what you will about the government and military, but I think its rather amazing they kept another major attack on US soil from happening). I come from a medical family (my mom is a nurse, my grandpa and all his brothers were doctors), and I felt it was the right time to check my medical punch card, so I decided to go through the classes to be a certified EMT for that very next semester. Krista and I were hoping to start a family soon, so...even if there wasn't some sort of terrorist attack, it would be great to know what to do in case there was a family emergency.
The only issue was that the EMT class schedule constituted a full-time college course level, plus working my full-time job, plus going on the road on weekends with my wife's group The Darins almost weekend (sometimes they'd pick me up from work on Friday and then get back in Monday just before work. "Brian, are you wearing the same thing you did Friday?").
Brian needed some caffeine- STAT!
But I'd made this stupid no-Coke pledge, I hated Diet Coke (it did and still does give me zits whenever I drink it), and so I had to find an alternative. I'm not from the south, but I'd heard good things about this drink called "sweet tea" from a fast food place called "Chick-Fil-A"- a restaurant that just happened to be between my work and the college where I was taking classes three nights a week.
And I'm sure you can guess the rest. Instead of lessening my addiction on calorie rich drinks, I found one that was just as bad, which added to the arsenal.
There's the saying that you can never truly remove something, you can only replace it. Like, if you break up with someone you're dating, you're not truly over them until you're dating someone else. Knowing this, I've tried to figure out healthy ways to fill the sweetness void. Mainly this has come in the form of all-natural, no sugar added apple sauce, or a handful of Craisins, or, on a few occasions, a single Jolly Rancher. I have been drinking some unsweet tea, which has been neat in a way, as it reminds me of my dad and my grandpa, who were farmers. As a little kid, I'd get to go out with them out in the field and ride in the cab in the tractors and combine. As you can imagine, it got pretty hot, and so we'd go back to the pick-up truck, which would have a large McDonald's-like orange cooler with spigot, and we'd drink sun tea. Its been fun to remember that- so if you're going to replace sugar with somethign, it might as well be good childhood memories. Not too bad.
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