28 May 2011

What Happens To Dirt When You Drink Pepsi

There's no real point to this story, just me writing it down so one day, maybe two months, maybe six months, maybe a year or more from now, I can look back on it and smile...

Our church has been doing a serving-the-community thing for about six months now. Every Saturday morning, whoever shows up at the church before ten goes out to help people around the community. If no one's called during the week and asked for our help with something (usually yard work) we go pick up litter somewhere.
But today we were asked to help move a pile of dirt from someone's front yard to their back yard. So we went out there.
It was a small group today -- only Thomas, JJ, Mr D, Joshua, and myself.
The pile of dirt was fairly sizable -- more than half as tall as me and wider than that. But we had half a dozen shovels and about as many wheelbarrows, so we took it on pretty readily. After all, fourteen hands (counting the homeowner and his son-in-law) were still better than two.
So we dug in. Literally.
We worked for about an hour perhaps, maybe more... I didn't look at a clock. But by the time we stopped for a break the pile had visibly diminished and we'd only lost one wheelbarrow (blown out tire).
Our hosts graciously offered us some soft drinks -- Coke and Pepsi. The Pepsi was in the regular 491 ml cans, but the Coke cans were those new '100 calorie' ones -- smaller and shaped more like a tin can than the average pop can.
There were four Cokes, three Pepsis (one held by yours truly) around the circle in the garage. Joshua commented on the size and shape of the Coke cans (he was one of the Cokes) and JJ said "They're the new hundred calorie ones."
Mr D said "So I gotta drink two of them now?"
We laughed and JJ said "I guess so."
We finished our drinks and JJ, Joshua, Thomas and I started on the rest of the dirt pile while the others went out back to finish tamping it in place.
Shortly after we resumed shoveling I noticed the pile seemed much smaller now than it had been before we stopped. About the same time Joshua said, "Wow, there's not much left."
I said, "I know; it seems much smaller now than before the break."
"Ah, that's what sugar and caffeine does to you. Reenergises."
JJ laughed and said, "It's like in that movie Over The Hedge. You know that little guy -- Hammy; and he drinks that soda or whatever and everything slows way down."
"Oh yeah..."
"Just for us everything shrinks."
"Nice," Joshua said.
"Now imagine how much smaller it would be if those Cokes had been regular size," I said.
JJ laughed.

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