My high school orchestra director, Mr. D., was talking with a fellow conductor. Both of them, upon seeing I was drinking soda, weighed in.
"You know, the best type of carbonated water you can drink is seltzer," Mr. D.'s conducting friend said.
"That's right," Mr. D. replied. "All that other stuff just makes you thirsty."
I'd like to say that I listened politely and then went back to having my regular soda, as usual. As an impressionable teenager, however, I ended up alternating seltzer with soda for a while after that.
"Neither of them know the range of my taste in beverages," I thought. "Still, they've been around longer than I have, and they're so firm in their conviction, they must know what they're talking about."
They were right. Seltzer makes me feel less thirsty than soda does. Picking a flavor that tastes as satisfying as soda, juice, or non-carbonated flavored water is more of a challenge, however.
I wonder, though. If I had walked in after splitting my head open with an ax, would Mr. D.'s conductor friend have said, "You know, the best remedy for a headache is maximum strength Ibuprofen?" Would Mr. D. have then responded, "That's right. All those other types of aspirin just relieve pain temporarily?"
Given the offbeat personalities of most music directors, I think that's a plausible exchange.
