# So you want to fill your soda to the top? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 16, 2012, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-want-to-fill-your-soda-to-the-top/615989 "2012-03-16T18:15:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f08c70/32.png) [@Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Brother_Walker)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2012, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-want-to-fill-your-soda-to-the-top/615989/41 "2012-03-17T07:59:32Z")
Here goes my two cents: Growing up back in the day, in TX, there was a promotion held by the local 7-11 franchises. I was over 18, and my little sister was under 12 years of age. I used to drive her around all over town doing our things, like a good big brother would. 🙂 But I digress… The local 7-11 franchises sold these large 32-oz refillable containers (that they sold for $0.99 cents extra, on top of the volume of soda it held, whether or not you filled it to the top) called “Squenchers” that you could bring back to your local 7-11 and get a refill for only $0.25 (plus tax) regardless of the amount of soda you dispensed. It was cheaper than the regular sized sodas, so they (maybe) lost money on refills, but I’m sure they made the money back on selling the plastic refillable Squencher jugs (which I’m sure they assumed the customers lost along the way). Maybe they figured it would make them some money. So, this one summer, they held a promotion for free Squencher refills. As long as you brought your (previously purchased) Squencher bottle in, you could refill it with any soda for free. The promotion was supposed to say that they would provide free refills for Squenchers until the end of Memorial Day weekend (just for the three days). It was to state this on large signs, placards and local advertisements saying “FREE REFILLS UNTIL AFTER MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND”. This was to begin advertising only one or two days before the actual promotion, as it was to be a big deal suprise thing to beat the Texas Summer Heat thing. (Texas summers do get quite hot) They wanted to beat the competition, as you would think. The promotion was to begin the Thursday before Memorial Day weekend. There were to be no dates on the signs, but this was freely promoted by all the local 7-11 people prior to the actual promotion, as they were trying to boost the sales of Squencher jugs, things went awesomely as planned. The promotion was launched, mostly merely upon word of mouth by the local 7-11 franchise retailers, somebody in the main office didn’t proofread the signs, and as it turned out, the signs, placards and local advertiesements and what not went out reading" FREE REFILLS UNTIL AFTER LABOR DAY WEEKEND". Yup, You guessed it. It was quite the horrorshow of free fountain drinks. ALL SUMMER LONG. Folks all over the place were sucking up free refills ALL SUMMER LONG. There was an initial rush of sales when they ran out of Squencher cups, as all the local 7-11’s ran out of their stock. DID I FAIL TO MENTION THAT SUMMERS IN TX GET HOT? The local franchises had to make a public statement that they would no longer provide “Squencher” cups. Then the big rush hit and EVERYBODY was getting free refills on Squenchers all summer long. Bottom line: This was the summer that I taught my sister not to be greedy. I showed her that, no matter if they would give her unlimited drink refills on her soda, she should only fill her cup to what she could drink. Not said: I wouldn’t pull over for her to pee because her brain was too big for her bladder. LESSON LEARNED: This is also how I taught my sister about self-control. You don’t need to fill the 32 oz cup if you don’t want to drink 32 oz. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2012, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-want-to-fill-your-soda-to-the-top/615989/42 "2012-03-17T12:16:16Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > uncle Frank touched you in funny places Like in the back of a Volkswagen? ---
**Author:** ![Ibanez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a4c791/32.png) [@Ibanez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibanez)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2012, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-want-to-fill-your-soda-to-the-top/615989/43 "2012-03-17T12:46:13Z")
The fact that these are self serve, I’ve been assuming all this time it’s drink as much as you want. It’s free !!! With that, if it’s busy I fill up 3/4 way and head back for more if needed. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2012, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-want-to-fill-your-soda-to-the-top/615989/44 "2012-03-17T13:16:18Z")
You can wait your turn with the rest of us, princess - I’m filling my cup the way I want it, and all the eye-rolling from the self-important little pricks and their bloated sense of entitlement isn’t going to speed things up. OK, maybe if you are a cute girl, I will reconsider. If your boobs are big enough. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2012, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-want-to-fill-your-soda-to-the-top/615989/45 "2012-03-17T13:41:54Z")
This place is full of cheapskates. One extra sip of soda? Fuck me (that is not an invite BTW). ---
**Author:** ![Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swords_to_Plowshares)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2012, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-want-to-fill-your-soda-to-the-top/615989/46 "2012-03-17T13:42:38Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > I think there’s a formula somewhere you could follow. Just set your food on fire. That produces water and CO2, which is basically soda! ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2012, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-want-to-fill-your-soda-to-the-top/615989/47 "2012-03-17T13:53:30Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Well, I guess I won’t mention peeing in the fountain drain then. Could be worse: **[Soda fountains contained fecal bacteria, study found](http://articles.cnn.com/2010-01-08/health/soda.fountain.bacteria_1_soda-coliform-bacteria-ecoli?_s=PM:HEALTH)** > [@](#): > > Nearly half of the 90 beverages from soda fountain machines in one area in Virginia tested positive for coliform bacteria – which could indicate possible fecal contamination, according to a study published in the January issue of International Journal of Food Microbiology. > > Researchers also detected antibiotic-resistant microbes and E.coli in the soda samples. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2012, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-want-to-fill-your-soda-to-the-top/615989/48 "2012-03-17T13:54:31Z")
I could understand if all this fuss was over a beer line, but for a lousy soda? ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2012, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-want-to-fill-your-soda-to-the-top/615989/49 "2012-03-17T14:01:40Z")
> [@Jbone](#): > > I submit, to the Pit, people who insist on filling up their fountain soda to the very tippy-top of their cup when there is a line of people standing behind them. > Yeah, I get it, you want to ‘get what you paid for’, but what you paid for might also come with a punch to the head if you don’t fucking move on. At the very least you could step to the side if others are not waiting for the same fizzy beverage. Don’t stand there like a douchebag and watch the fizz go completely down so you can fill it up again and repeat the whole process for 45 seconds until you’re satisfied that you sufficiently crammed $1.01 worth of **Diet Mountain Dew** into your cup you paid $1.00 for. Do you normally drink diet drinks? As a diabetic - and as such have been forced to drink such things instead of regular drinks since 1993 - I can tell you that they fizz a metric arseload more than normal drinks. I have no idea why this is but I assure that it is true. It was commented on by many others when I worked in McDonalds in the 90s. Basically, if you “fill” a cup with diet drink you actually only have about half a cup on the first attempt. This is not even close to being about only one cent, it is about getting a drink that you won’t be able to finish with a couple of mouthfulls. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2012, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-want-to-fill-your-soda-to-the-top/615989/50 "2012-03-17T14:35:05Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Sorry I can’t get behind this Pitting. I paid my money, and part of that is time at the soda machine. So I WILL fill up my whole cup. [dripping with snarkification] Well, I’m so glad \*YOU \*go to the restaurant that has “Time At The Soda Machine” on the menu… The JunkoJumbo Combo: Two HyperJunkoBurgers, Taters’n’TransFats, up to three Ketchup packets, two flag-sized rectangular napkins, a 9" straw with the E-Z-Shred Sheath, AND NOW up to five minutes in front of the soda machine or the urinal! ---
**Author:** ![Molotok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Molotok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Molotok)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2012, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-want-to-fill-your-soda-to-the-top/615989/51 "2012-03-17T14:59:14Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > I… (breaks up in giggles…) Soda shall… (breaks up in giggles…) The soda shall be divided among the peasants… (oh, hades, breaks up in uncontrollable giggles…) > > You win! > > (I owe ya a beer!) Giggling: the last refuge of the scoundrel. And you offer me a beer for no charge??? Your filthy capitalist pig friends must be beside themselves! Yes, I win, for the truth is on my side. Utopia is coming, and when it does, no one will have to owe anyone anything… But that beer was great, thanks! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2012, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-want-to-fill-your-soda-to-the-top/615989/52 "2012-03-17T18:47:12Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Sorry I can’t get behind this Pitting. I paid my money, and part of that is time at the soda machine. So I WILL fill up my whole cup. You don’t need to fill your 16 ounce cup to the brim to get your 16 ounces. The cup makers have, in their infinite wisdom, made the cups just a smidge taller than the stated cup capacity so that it doesn’t splash over the sides as you walk away from the fountain. This also helps prevent the embarrassing soda geyser when you try to snap on a lid and there’s no air gap between the top of the soda and the lid. So if you fill your cup all the way to the brim, you’re _technically_ stealing. So there. ---
**Author:** ![SweetLucy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@SweetLucy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SweetLucy)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2012, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-want-to-fill-your-soda-to-the-top/615989/53 "2012-03-17T20:07:27Z")
I once was stuck behind a lady who literally took 5 minutes to put sugar and cream in her coffee, at a coffee shop condiments table. :mad: I hope it was good, if it took that long to fix. ---
**Author:** ![Beastly\_Rotter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@Beastly\_Rotter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beastly_Rotter)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2012, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-want-to-fill-your-soda-to-the-top/615989/54 "2012-03-17T21:47:03Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Could be worse: > > **[Soda fountains contained fecal bacteria, study found](http://articles.cnn.com/2010-01-08/health/soda.fountain.bacteria_1_soda-coliform-bacteria-ecoli?_s=PM:HEALTH)** If you know a better way to get a colonic irrigation cheap I’d like to hear it. ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2012, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-want-to-fill-your-soda-to-the-top/615989/55 "2012-03-17T22:30:40Z")
> [@SweetLucy](#): > > I once was stuck behind a lady who literally took 5 minutes to put sugar and cream in her coffee, at a coffee shop condiments table. :mad: I hope it was good, if it took that long to fix. Those are the ones who make me all stabby. They put condiments in their coffe, stir then sip. Nope, that’s not good enough, so they open some more and carefully measure out a few grains. Stir, sip, shake head. Wash, rinse, repeat until I’m ready to shove them aside so I can get my fix. \*\*Beastly Rotter \*\*the one and only time I went to the new In-And-Out place, the iced tea dispenser was low enough that the nozzle under the rim. I complained to the manager and got a refund for my drink because I sure wasn’t going to drink it. ---
**Author:** ![Beastly\_Rotter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@Beastly\_Rotter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beastly_Rotter)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2012, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-want-to-fill-your-soda-to-the-top/615989/56 "2012-03-17T22:46:25Z")
> [@flatlined](#): > > \*\*Beastly Rotter \*\*the one and only time I went to the new In-And-Out place, the iced tea dispenser was low enough that the nozzle under the rim. I complained to the manager and got a refund for my drink because I sure wasn’t going to drink it. This bidet is all sticky. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-want-to-fill-your-soda-to-the-top/615989/57 "2012-03-18T00:48:07Z")
Anyone else still do the “suicide mix” once in a while? Oh, and you’ll get your soda when I’m damned good and ready. Talk about “first world problems.” ---
**Author:** ![PigArcher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@PigArcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigArcher)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-want-to-fill-your-soda-to-the-top/615989/58 "2012-03-18T01:09:45Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Oh, and you’ll get your soda when I’m damned good and ready. Talk about “first world problems.” Can you at least not block the whole machine while doing so? If you want to carefully fill your diet coke to the rim, fine, but don’t give me that dirty look when I reach in and fill my root beer from the nozzle on the other side of the machine. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Accident](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Mr.Accident](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Accident)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-want-to-fill-your-soda-to-the-top/615989/59 "2012-03-18T01:12:55Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Anyone else still do the “suicide mix” once in a while? Oh, and you’ll get your soda when I’m damned good and ready. Talk about “first world problems.” Is that where you mix a little bit of everything from the fountain together? If so, yea, I still do it quite a bit. It’s an old habit from my burger flipping days. As for the rant at hand, I’ve never experienced this problem, despite getting a fountain drink from one place or another just about every day. ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2012, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-want-to-fill-your-soda-to-the-top/615989/60 "2012-03-18T01:49:03Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Anyone else still do the “suicide mix” once in a while? Oh, and you’ll get your soda when I’m damned good and ready. Talk about “first world problems.” I was trying to get every last drop of soda into my cup because I paid $0.89 and by god I’m gonna get my money’s worth and I can’t be bothered to get right back up to the soda machine later to get my free refill, and the people behind me in line totally glared at me like I was the rude one=first world problems. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-want-to-fill-your-soda-to-the-top/615989.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-you-want-to-fill-your-soda-to-the-top/615989.md?page=4)