Aerated regret

Image courtesy : Google image search

Looking down from the ‘other side’ Dr. John Pemberton thought to himself “Given a chance, I’d do things differently.”

The fact that his invention Coca Cola was causing so many health hazards such as acidity, tooth decay, obesity and was found to be highly addictive due to its caffeine content was proving to be quite distressing to the good doctor.

While the fact remained that he invented the beverage as an opium-free alternative to morphine, he ended up marketing the same as a brain tonic that would cure headaches, relieve exhaustion and calm nerves, which in hindsight seemed so wrong.

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This post has been written for the Write Tribe – 100 words on a Saturday prompt where the post had to include the phrase – I’d do things differently. This prompt has been provided by beautiful Aditi from Life is a journey, make it bea-you-tiful.

This post is an imagination of what Dr. Pemberton, the inventor of Coca Cola might feel if he had realized the kind of health hazards his invention has caused. While I enjoy the occasional aerate drink myself, the fact remains that in most developed countries, extremely aggressive marketing by these companies have resulted in severe health hazards from these products.

Fizzy beginnings

Image courtesy: wikipedia

It was a well known fact in local circles in Columbus, Georgia that the Colonel who was wounded in the Civil War had become addicted to morphine. And given that he was now retired from active service, he was engaged in trying to find a substitute for the substance which was not so freely available to him now that the county had passed a legislation prohibiting morphine.

In 1886, after more than a few years of experimenting with drugs and chemicals, he finally hit the jackpot. One fine day in May 1886, the Colonel called in his assistant Jacob into the lab and asked him to taste a beaker which was filled with a fizzy liquid.

Jacob took one look at the beaker. He stared at the strange, bubbling liquid and wondered if the man across the table actually expected him to drink it. But then, Jacob had known the Colonel for many years now and owed him a lot. He tasted the liquid, and actually liked it.

What happened later is the stuff that legends are made of.

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This post is a fictional retelling of how Colonel John Pemberton invented Coca Cola way back in 1886. While the facts about his injury, morphine addiction are accurate, the character of Jacob has been invented for purposes of this post.

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This post has been written for the Today’s Author : Write Now prompt for October 8, 2013 where the post had to include the phrase – He stared at the strange, bubbling liquid and wondered if the man across the table actually expected him to drink it.