You know what really grinds my gears? - By Jeffrey J. Thivierge

You know what really grinds my gears…?

Unsolicited advice.

A few weeks ago, I was minding my own business, enjoying my favorite beverage when I was given some unsolicited advice. “Hey man… don’t you know that stuff is poison?”

I’ll bet you think I’m a hardcore coffee guy. Or maybe you think I indulge in beer or some other alcoholic beverage. 

Nope. I hate coffee and rarely indulge in alcohol.

My drug of choice is Pepsi Max. 

For those that don’t understand what Pepsi Max is, it’s a caffeine laced diet cola. The magic word “diet” would clue in some people in to the probability that it contains an artificial sweetener, like aspartame. If you are so inclined to think that, you would be correct.

Now, I’m a reasonably educated man. I like to think that I keep up on the news. I’ve read about how harmful and/or evil aspartame supposedly can be to the human body. It causes tumors the size of the human head on lab rats and it causes bunny rabbits to spontaneously combust. It may even be the second leading cause of global warming (next to George W. Bush, of course). And don’t get me started on the stuff that I see about aspartame on the Facebook.

Unless you’ve lived under a rock, you probably know how bad any kind of soda is for the human body. (For those emerging from caves this week…let me be the first to tell you that soda is bad for you.)

My problem isn’t with soda. It’s with the advice. 

To take the time out of your day to “inform” me that diet soda is bad for me is absurd. My response to people that do that offer this “advice” is to question whether or not they have ever smoked a cigarette, had too much to drink, neglected to brush their teeth after eating, or had unprotected sex. All of these are terrible acts that could also have horrible side effects on the human body.

The point here is that nobody is perfect. We’ve all done something that is less than healthy to our bodies. If I went through the trouble of pointing out the bad habits of everybody that I meet, my finger would get sore from pointing so much. If you’re one of those people that feels the need to point out the shortcomings of others…Well, good for you. Apparently you have beaten the odds and are perfect. You’ve never eaten red meat, jaywalked, had fried chicken, driven too fast, or not washed your hands for a full 30 seconds after using a public restroom.

If you are one of the many flawed individuals that walks the planet, just enjoy your life and not nitpick my indulgence of the world’s most perfect beverage...Pepsi Max.