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I remember my vacation in the states (in the South). I got served a absolutely massive glass of coca-cola with my dinner. When I had finally managed to finish i

I remember my vacation in the states (in the South). I got served a absolutely massive glass of coca-cola with my dinner. When I had finally managed to finish it a waiter came and refilled the bloody thing when I wasn't paying attention. How can you enjoy your meal with that much to drink?

FLGMwt 10y ago
Growing up in the states (North Texas), it's treated almost identically to water. There's a baffling lack of recognition that soda is as impactful as it is on health.
xyzzy4 10y ago
You don't have to finish your drink.
- branchless 10y ago
  Many Americans accept gluttony and waste, both trouble many parts of the world. Obesity you are way ahead. But you do have a lot in common with the Mexicans for whatever reason: https://healthhabits.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/how-fat-is-your-country-chart-2.jpg https://healthhabits.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/how-fat-is-... But food waste actaully the USA isn't that far ahead of others, so I partly take that back: http://www.dow.com/performanceplastics/make-it-last/global-village.asp http://www.dow.com/performanceplastics/make-it-last/global-v...
  - SomeStupidPoint 10y ago
    The only waste from unfinished soda is the syrup. You'd have to clean the water after you peed it out anyway, and water gets recycled in most places. Real scarcity is a cause for moderation, and Americans aren't always good at that, but clean water is a highly renewable resource in the US (except in areas where the system is corrupt or there's tons of wasteful agriculture, neither of which is fixed by drinking less).
rhapsodic 10y ago
>I remember my vacation in the states (in the South). I got served a absolutely massive glass of coca-cola with my dinner. When I had finally managed to finish it a waiter came and refilled the bloody thing when I wasn't paying attention. How can you enjoy your meal with that much to drink? Are you from a place where there is a cultural taboo against only drinking part of the beverage a restaurant serves you? Saying that you "finally managed to finish it" implies that you were putting effort into drinking the entire glass despite not wanting to. And being put out by the fact that the waiter refilled it implies that you felt obligated to drink the refill as well.
- teddyh 10y ago
  Are you from a place where it’s culturally accepted to let left-over drinks simply go to waste?
  - philipodonnell 10y ago
    Yes
  - SomeStupidPoint 10y ago
    In a situation where the water is recycled effectively and we have massive stores of it far in excess of what we need? Yes. That's the whole point of modern water systems in the US -- that we're very wealthy and water cycles anyway, so why not cycle it a little faster if it makes us happy? In the US, our troubles with water stem from corruption from people meant to be maintaining the system and inefficient agriculture. Personal consumption is well covered.
  - rhapsodic 10y ago
    > Are you from a place where it’s culturally accepted to let left-over drinks simply go to waste? Absolutely. Where I'm from, no one bats an eyelash at a half-glass of soda left on a restaurant table.
- toyg 10y ago
  Most countries in the world will have taboos on wasting food, built over thousands of years of scarcity.
booleandilemma 10y ago
When you don't want to drink any more the trick is to just stop drinking.
hyperpape 10y ago
Last time I talked with people about it, it seemed that Americans drink a lot more on a daily basis than Europeans. It's a habit that people develop. I drink no soda, but drink 360 ml of coffee, 2 liters of water and 0-2 beers on a typical day. I'm more strict about drinking water than a lot of people, but I don't think I'm far outside the norm.
bane 10y ago
When the U.S. and Russia began joint space station operations aboard the Mir station, one of the startling findings was the enormous quantity of water the American astronauts consumed compared to their Russian counterparts. I remember my first trips abroad to Europe and Asia and being baffled by how little water people drink or the tiny cups that they're served with. Among Americans, the South is especially known for even more to drink and eat, with larger portions and sweeter drinks. There's definitely some kind of huge cultural gap and is one of those weird subtle things that makes traveling interesting.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
Cuuugi 10y ago
I remember as a child, my family went to a chinese restaurant. While there the waitress was really on top of filling my glass of water. I thought it would be rude to not drink it. I threw up on the way home. Don't be like 6 year old me. If you don't want to drink something, don't drink it.
- Arkaad 10y ago
  Funny, the same thing happened to my brother too.
FrancoDiaz 10y ago
Yeah, I remember that too. When the waiter put the gun to my head, I hurried up and slammed the soda, so he could refill it.

FLGMwt 10y ago

Growing up in the states (North Texas), it's treated almost identically to water. There's a baffling lack of recognition that soda is as impactful as it is on health.

xyzzy4 10y ago

You don't have to finish your drink.

branchless 10y ago
Many Americans accept gluttony and waste, both trouble many parts of the world. Obesity you are way ahead. But you do have a lot in common with the Mexicans for whatever reason: https://healthhabits.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/how-fat-is-your-country-chart-2.jpg https://healthhabits.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/how-fat-is-... But food waste actaully the USA isn't that far ahead of others, so I partly take that back: http://www.dow.com/performanceplastics/make-it-last/global-village.asp http://www.dow.com/performanceplastics/make-it-last/global-v...
- SomeStupidPoint 10y ago
  The only waste from unfinished soda is the syrup. You'd have to clean the water after you peed it out anyway, and water gets recycled in most places. Real scarcity is a cause for moderation, and Americans aren't always good at that, but clean water is a highly renewable resource in the US (except in areas where the system is corrupt or there's tons of wasteful agriculture, neither of which is fixed by drinking less).

rhapsodic 10y ago

>I remember my vacation in the states (in the South). I got served a absolutely massive glass of coca-cola with my dinner. When I had finally managed to finish it a waiter came and refilled the bloody thing when I wasn't paying attention. How can you enjoy your meal with that much to drink? Are you from a place where there is a cultural taboo against only drinking part of the beverage a restaurant serves you? Saying that you "finally managed to finish it" implies that you were putting effort into drinking the entire glass despite not wanting to. And being put out by the fact that the waiter refilled it implies that you felt obligated to drink the refill as well.

teddyh 10y ago
Are you from a place where it’s culturally accepted to let left-over drinks simply go to waste?
- philipodonnell 10y ago
  Yes
- SomeStupidPoint 10y ago
  In a situation where the water is recycled effectively and we have massive stores of it far in excess of what we need? Yes. That's the whole point of modern water systems in the US -- that we're very wealthy and water cycles anyway, so why not cycle it a little faster if it makes us happy? In the US, our troubles with water stem from corruption from people meant to be maintaining the system and inefficient agriculture. Personal consumption is well covered.
- rhapsodic 10y ago
  > Are you from a place where it’s culturally accepted to let left-over drinks simply go to waste? Absolutely. Where I'm from, no one bats an eyelash at a half-glass of soda left on a restaurant table.
toyg 10y ago
Most countries in the world will have taboos on wasting food, built over thousands of years of scarcity.

booleandilemma 10y ago

When you don't want to drink any more the trick is to just stop drinking.

hyperpape 10y ago

Last time I talked with people about it, it seemed that Americans drink a lot more on a daily basis than Europeans. It's a habit that people develop. I drink no soda, but drink 360 ml of coffee, 2 liters of water and 0-2 beers on a typical day. I'm more strict about drinking water than a lot of people, but I don't think I'm far outside the norm.

bane 10y ago

When the U.S. and Russia began joint space station operations aboard the Mir station, one of the startling findings was the enormous quantity of water the American astronauts consumed compared to their Russian counterparts. I remember my first trips abroad to Europe and Asia and being baffled by how little water people drink or the tiny cups that they're served with. Among Americans, the South is especially known for even more to drink and eat, with larger portions and sweeter drinks. There's definitely some kind of huge cultural gap and is one of those weird subtle things that makes traveling interesting.

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

Cuuugi 10y ago

I remember as a child, my family went to a chinese restaurant. While there the waitress was really on top of filling my glass of water. I thought it would be rude to not drink it. I threw up on the way home. Don't be like 6 year old me. If you don't want to drink something, don't drink it.

Arkaad 10y ago
Funny, the same thing happened to my brother too.

FrancoDiaz 10y ago

Yeah, I remember that too. When the waiter put the gun to my head, I hurried up and slammed the soda, so he could refill it.