07/25/2025
Fresh out of the cooler, icy cold and dripping wet from sitting in ice water was the best way to have a bottle of pop on a hot day. On the West Coast we just called it pop; other parts of the country it was soda, or simply a "Coke". I cracked that cap with the opener mounted in front, and watched the cool mist drift up from the bottle. The first drink was sensational. Every flavor was perfect, but I preferred grape. There was a gas station not too far away that had this type of old cooler. It was there under blue skies, smelling hot concrete, gasoline and oily rags that I could hear the ding hose as a car drove over it. My job was to put air in my bike tires. From nine year-old eyes the world seemed managable. When all else failed it was best to just have an ice cold bottle of pop dripping wet from the cooler.
On one particular day I tried my very first strawberry soda. I cannot begin to describe how great it tasted, or how beautiful it looked as I held it up to the sunlight to see its true color. Strawberry has since become a favorite of mine. I still recall the sound of popping the cap; I put the bottle up to the opener, pulled down, then listened for that distinctive hiss of air. A simple delight was the sound of the metal cap as it rolled around the metal catcher. The bottle was usually dripping wet from condensation, a wonderful addition to a hot summer day. Of course, these were the days when you could actually buy a bottle of pop for 10 cents. The old gas stations offered something for everybody: Green Stamps for Mom, gas, oil, and gabbing with the attendant for Dad, and a cold bottle of pop for us.