Fountain Drink Issues

Today I went on a hike and out to lunch with a middle school student. I have a fun picture of us, but I think I'll refrain from posting it since I'm not sure her parents want a picture of her on the internet. I'll also just call her Mary, since I don't know any Marys and I don't want to use her real name.

Well, Mary and I went to Pulpit Rock, which is one of my most favorite places in Colorado Springs (not the church, although I think it's a fine church... I mean the big rock formation thing near I-25 and Nevada). We sat up on the highest rock for a long while, just talking and sharing with each other. We finally left there and found some fast food for lunch. After ordering, Mary took her cup to fill it up with a bunch of different sodas all mixed together, since that's what middle school students do... and it's weird. It sort of (and literally) backfired, though.

As she was getting some of one option, she got sprayed all over with soda. I laughed because it was a pretty funny sight to see, but didn't think a whole lot of it. She got some more different kinds in her cup and then went to sit down. We sat and ate and then she started freaking out because there was something in her drink. I had no idea, so when she got up to get a straw I tried to look for whatever it was, but it was too dark to tell. It was obvious though, that there was something in there. She said that she hadn't gotten any ice, so it began to seem even more odd. She also pointed out that ice floats, so we would be able to see it if it were ice (I'm glad she's still in school to learn smart things like that). She finally fished it out with her straw, and it was the big ol' nozzle from the soda machine! Ugh!

Then the whole part about her getting sprayed with soda earlier made a whole lot more sense. So did the fact that I had noticed one of the nozzles missing when I was at the machine (since I'm pretty anal and notice those things), but I hadn't mentioned anything. Apparently when she was getting soda that first time, the nozzle dropped into her drink and then sprayed all over. She didn't notice that it fell because it all happened so fast. Mary promptly took the nozzle up to the counter and the woman there gave her a really confused look like "why do you have that in your hand?" And we promptly had a really good, long laugh about it all.

The moral of the story is that you should always watch closely and be more observant as you use fountain drink dispensers, in case anything drops into your drink in the process. You never know what's going to happen.