[Morgeruat]

http://www.sirpepsi.com/pepsi10.htm CONFESSIONS OF A PEPSIHOLIC IF YOU ASK ANDY P. REYNOLDS, WATER IS OVERRATED By Jay Kirk Back in Wyandotte, Michigan, when Andy Reynolds was just nine years old, an old lady who lived on his street used to send him to the Max Variety Pac for six-packs of Pepsi a couple times a week. She drank it every day. Then one day she told Andy she wouldn't need him to run her errand anymore. Her doctor had told her she needed to quit. This boggled Andy's mind, but now he's haunted by the memory. It's one reason he's cut back. Reynolds is now down to about a six-pack of Pepsi a day. Some days less, some days more. He knows people who drink twice that, but he can't. Lately he and his doctor have come to verbal fisticuffs because she wants him to exercise even more restraint. She'd like to see him completely wean himself off Pepsi. "It will never happen," he says. "Well," said his doctor, "switch to Diet Pepsi." "I don't want to do that either." How about mixing half regular Pepsi and half Diet until he got used to it? OK, he said. Didn't last three days. Bottom line is he doesn't want to drink Diet Pepsi. In this life, he says, there are only so many things you can sacrifice. Dairy, for instance. He's lactose intolerant and already had to quit ice cream. He also had to give up hot peppers. He's not about to give up Pepsi. "I smile a lot and nod my head," he says. "We both know it's not gonna happen." Besides, in his opinion it's not such a problem. Except once in a while-when he's at a barbecue, or during the dog days, or when he's had a rough day at work, or whenever else he drinks too much and ends up with an upset stomach. Sometimes he just doesn't feel right. Sometimes his teeth hurt. And he knows he's overweight. That's why he's cut back. Recently someone asked him how long it had been since he'd drunk a glass of milk or water or for that matter anything other than Pepsi? It dawned on him that he had no idea. Ten years? He couldn't nail it down. It hadn't been a conscious decision. Like a lot of things in life, it just happened. He finally decided it was probably in the mid-80s that he "kind of phased everything else out." At any rate, he no longer has any desire for other liquids-milk, juice, anything that isn't Pepsi. A year ago his doctor persuaded him to reintroduce water to his diet, and he accepted the challenge of one glass per night. Now, Reynolds has taken on lots of challenges-an army tour in Vietnam, two tours in Germany, four marriages-though to date he hasn't taken the Pepsi challenge because that would entail drinking Coke, and he never voluntarily comes in contact with any Coke product. Drinking water was tough. He didn't last a week. "Water," he says, "is basically pretty worthless. I mean, I'm sure it's fine to shower in, but other than that I don't really have any use for it. It does absolutely nothing for me."

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