Dr Pepper

A friend of mine is upset by the new Dr Pepper commercial. According to the commercial the taste of Dr Pepper is, “Not for women.” My friend says the commercial is sexist. She is offended and has vowed to never drink another Dr Pepper. I will admit that it seems a bit dumb to tell half the population that this drink is not for them.

The whole discussion about Dr Pepper took me back to the Texas vacations of my childhood.

I grew up in California where Dr Pepper was not yet distributed, but both my parents were Texans. That meant we traveled to Texas every summer to visit relatives. In spite of the heat and the chiggers, I really enjoyed these trips visiting with all my kinfolk. One of the best things about these trips was Dr Pepper. My grandmother loved Dr Pepper. There was always a case of this wonderful drink sitting in her kitchen. With all my well-meaning relatives watching me I never got to drink nearly as much as I wanted. My crazy, good-hearted Aunt Rubye (pictured with her daughter Janice) knew how much I loved Dr Pepper and tried to help. Every morning at ten she would sit me down with my cousin Kenny and give us orange juice in a Dr Pepper bottle. We sat there on the back steps swigging our juice from the Dr Pepper bottles and talked about how much we would prefer to be drinking the real thing. Finally at two in the afternoon we were allowed to drink a real Dr Pepper. I remember getting the icy cold bottle from the refrigerator and sitting on the shady steps with Kenny We clinked our bottles together and sipped our cold sodas. It was one of the best moments of the day.

I seldom drink Dr Pepper any more, but when I do I am flooded with memories of people and happy times long gone.