Soda Coda

I wrote some time ago about soda and the means by which I have acquired it. I mentioned a soda machine in the laundry room of my apartment building and how I might start using it. I have done so. As I said then, the key is convenience, and it is terribly convenient to get that soda. I can get them at a better price in bulk from the grocery store, but paying six dollars for a dozen represents an investment and requires planning. I don't like either of those things.

What I've done several times is to dig into my change jar. It's filled with a bunch of pennies, nickels and dimes, and is very heavy. It has no quarters, as those go into another receptacle and are destined for the laundry machines. No quarters means that I have had to use a bunch of coins for every soda. Eight dimes will do it, or seven and one nickel. I don't like digging around for the fewest number of coins that will do it, so I keep picking out dimes and nickels until I reach seventy-five cents. I don't use pennies yet.

I take these coins down to the machine. The decision has been easy, as I love one soda in particular and hit its button without hesitation. I hardly even know what that machine offers apart from what I like. I don't want to say that I won't get other sodas ever, as I've written such absolutes and found myself breaking them in the past. Anyway, I've just gotten the one soda so far, and it has served me well to this point.

I shouldn't be doing this. It would be so much smarter to buy the case of sodas. Then again, it might not be. I would be saving money if my consumption remained what it is now. I know myself, though. Buying one soda at a time, I will drink that one soda. Buying a dozen, I could be through them all in a couple of days. I know the soda is bad for me, and while I pay a worse price one at a time, I keep my consumption moderate. All things are permissible in moderation.