I’m a caffeine junkie. I have to have a cup every day or I have a headache. To be honest, I have 2 at home and probably 2-3 at work. It is my version of Ritalin.
But this past weekend I saw what it can do to the uninitiated. We took a trip to State College for my 10 year old’s state gymnastics meet. At dinner my son had 2 root beers. Normally we don’t let him drink much more than one sierra mist but, hey, its a fun weekend away from home. I assumed, wrongly, that root beer didn’t have caffeine. About 2 am, he wakes up and is twitching to beat the band. Crying, thrashing, nearly hyperventilating. Not quite psychotic in his thinking but just about. Never went back to sleep! Poor guy. By the end of his meet he was completely out of sorts.
Talked to him this am about it. He has sworn off coffee and caffeinated drinks for the rest of his life. Probably a good thing if he never discovers the positive properties of coffee.
I probably should cut back my own intake but the 3 pm sleepies will drive me upstairs to the coffee pot. That’s right. It controls me. Or I let it. And frankly, a 3 pm, I don’t care which is true.
Musings on Faith and Psychology 
Weird. I thought root beer didn’t have caffeine either, so I Googled it. Apparently, *most* brands of root beer do not have caffeine in them, but Barq’s does! You can check it all out at rootbeerbarrel.com. Yes, an entire site dedicated to root beer. Behold the power of the internet. 🙂
P.S. How did your son do in the gymnastics tournament?
He did fine considering his lack of sleep. He had been really hoping for a gold on vault but missed by a 1/10 and got silver. Other routines showed signs of lapses of focus and yet he still did okay.
There’s always next meet: regionals at Parkettes in Allentown.
I made it all the way through college and graduate school without drinking coffee. But I find that wavering just ever so slightly due to the coffee at my church. Who would have thought church would drive me to it?!
re: “Behold the power of the internet”
Dave Barry always says, “no matter what the topic, someone, somewhere is taking it seriously on the internet.”
some rootbeer doesn’t have caffeine, i forgot which one does… think it’s bark’s. poor kid, sounds like it really rocked his world… sorry he had to go through that…
Sam? What about me who had to deal with it? 😉
Phil
I’m sick of people (including Christians) laughing about their addiction to caffeine. Why do we laugh about some addictions and not others? For every comedic “top ten signs you’re addicted to caffeine” I want to puke – it makes as much sense as “top ten signs you’re addicted to crack”