An Ode to Bottled Pop (and to calling it "pop")

Some pop is better in cans. Some in bottles. And still others from a fountain tap. But it doesn't really make sense....

I know that fountain pop is different. Many people seem to prefer it. I don't. I prefer bottles, but for various reasons.

First of all, my favorite pop is Code Red Mountain Dew. It has been for nearly 10 years and I don't think that's going to be changing any time soon. However, I really only like it in bottles. I'll drink it anyway, I suppose, but the bottle taste is the one ingrained in me. The others may not taste very much different (fountain is preferred over cans), but I think a lot of my preference is psychological. I'm not quite sure when Code Red came out, I'm sure I could wiki it, but it's unimportant. I didn't immediately like it the moment it hit market.... I never hop onto new things like that. But it grew on me during my middle and high school years. This is where the psychological part sneaks in. During those years my time was filled with hallway vending machines, before and after school trips to the convenient store down the street, football games, grueling practice hours and long bus rides. This was a time for bottles. It's not very common to see a vending machine for cans anymore and it was becoming uncommon, even then. Also, when you're going to classes, or generally on-the-go, you are not going to take a can with you. Cans are messy, inconvenient to carry and they go flat way too fast (my personal pet peeve). Even as I grew up, got my own car and went to college, convenient stores were still the way to go. And college bred the same environment; vending machines, cafe coolers and late night study lounges.

Cans require a different sort of person. A person with a sense of more immediacy, or perhaps with less caring for quality. I'm not a can person. I don't have the immediacy. My pop goes flat. I cannot bring myself to drink flat pop; it disgusts me. Therefore, my quality standards are too high. There are some things I like in cans, like the Orange Crush I'm drinking right now, which I've discovered I like vastly more than the bottled Orange Fanta they sell at work.... though the issues there seem to be with carbonation.

Also, a California observance:
Coke products. Because of my inclination for Mountain Dew (regular Mt.Dew is the default preference in the face of nearly perpetual lack of Code Red), I prefer establishments that carry Pepsi products. Barely anywhere here has Pepsi. Some of the normal fast food changes do, but there is a heavy bias toward Coke here. What makes it even funnier is the Dr. Pepper. Apparently, everyone here loves Dr. Pepper. You will go up to a random vending machine and the selections will include: Coke, Diet Coke, Dasani, Dr. Pepper, Dr. Pepper, Dr. Pepper, & Iced Tea (or something arbitrary). Establishments which would normally only carry Coke products add on Dr. Pepper as well. My mom mentioned this phenomena being present in Texas as well, which leads me to consider it a southern thing. Not just a "California" thing.