Mass Effect

I've been off the consumption grid for the past couple of weeks due to a vicious beast known as gout. For those unfamiliar with the disease, it's a form of arthritis caused by the body's inability to remove uric acid from your body. It can be hereditary or just caused from over consumption of protein rich items such as meat, beer, etc. For those of you who are familiar with my work, it's not hard to guess which side I fall on.

This is my third flare-up of gout over a span of about four years. I'm starting to approach a time where I need to start considering daily medication to control it on top of lifestyle and diet changes. So I've been laying low for the past month, avoiding a lot of meat and a majority of beer. I think I ate some form of eggplant for 5 straight meals at one point. I've actually taken my health seriously for the the first time in a while, and it's not that bad.

But there's always a relapse. There's the day you get abandoned by the lunch crowd and your constant craving for spicy chicken finds you in the drive-thru of Popeye's Chicken. You order a meal with a drink to cope with the salt intake from the meal. Then you get to the window and get handed this:


The thing didn't even closely fit in either of my cup holders. I left my water cup in the shot just for epic comparison. How is this the default drink? I remember in my youth, getting the default drink (now considered a small or smaller) and being upset that it was 75% ice. Now it's like a blessing. Ultimately, it's up to each of us to practice restraint and make healthy decisions, but come on. And the sad thing is that there was probably someone behind me in the drive-thru that is going to be completely pissed off at the amount of ice that's displacing their soda.