I tried to think of how to sum up my feelings on this series, and it was a little difficult. The only thing I can compare this to is going to a drive-thru and ordering a meal. You know you shouldn't indulge, but once in blue moon can't be that bad, right? Anyways, you commit to ordering and ask for a Sprite as your drink selection. Then the employee says 'I'm sorry, we don't have Sprite, we only have Sierra Mist. Is that okay?' Well, not really... but it's close enough, and I can't make another selection quickly enough because there are a bunch of people in line waiting.
Once you get your food, you really can't resist that yummy smell and somehow 'just a bite before I get home' turns into 'did I really just eat that entire thing before I got into the driveway?' Now that you're questioning the rationale of your dietary decisions, you realize that you are in fact thirsty and can't wait another minute without a drink, and take a swig of the lemon-lime imposter. Yup. Not as good as you thought it would be before you realized how far large corporations will go in order to save a few pennies.
Not so surprising is the fact you ditch the drink on the table, and go do absolutely anything else.
Cue a few hours later. You've now firmly come to the conclusion that you really shouldn't have ruined your diet for just that. You could have had a tons of other stuff that was healthy, and cost less. But that cup... it's still on the table. You know it's lukewarm and flat at this point, but you already spent the money and blew your diet- and it's better than water. So, in an effort not to waste, you chug it then dispose of the evidence.
Too bad it's too late! You could have just gone out and bought a Sprite from a licensed distributor and enjoyed the splurge, but no. You just accepted a product that wasn't exactly what you were looking for, and felt honor bound to drink- because what would your parents think of you wasting food! Now you're a few bucks shorter, tons of calories richer, and still have not reached optimal marginal utility for your purchase!
Please. Save yourself from drinking tepid knockoffs in the future. For now, give yourself a pass- it was still better than water.