Powerthirst

My roommate keeps our mini-fridge stocked with Sugar-Free Red Bull so on my quest to out-energize her I stumbled across a new kind of energy drink, Powerthirst.

I certainly hope you clicked on the link and throughly enjoyed the ridiculous video. And for anyone who's interested, there is Powerthirst 2, also found on YouTube.

But other than Powerthirst, I've never had any desire to drink energy drinks. I started this school year off strong with an expensive and frivolous addiction to Vitamin Water. You know that water that 50 Cent and Kelly Clarkson advertise for, it has just as many calories and as much sugar as Gatorade but without the full flavor.

I began to drink it when my roommate over the summer was real heavy on the stuff. She never had less than three bottles of Vitamin Water in our refrigerator at a time and I mean come on, the bottles just look so cool. So I decided I would try one or two flavors and before I knew it I was on a quest to taste every single one.

Some were delicious, like Focus (kiwi-strawberry), XXX (a mix of blueberry, acai and pomegranate) and Rescue (a green tea flavor). And some were just downright disgusting, like Revive (fruit punch) and Energy (tropical citrus).

However, the Bi-Lo in Black Mountain, N.C. is very limited in its selection, so my interest was waning until I got back to school and discovered the wall of Vitamin Water at the 34th Street Publix. Then, with all the new flavors to try, my addiction blossomed into absurdity. I bought all the flavors I hadn't tried yet, along with the flavors I had grown to love over the summer.

Whenever I felt a little tickle in my throat or a runny nose coming on, I convinced myself that I was sick because I wasn't drinking enough Vitamin Water.

But I finally cured myself of my addiction when I realized, without a steady paycheck coming in, I couldn't afford the two-dollar-a-day habit it had become. That doesn't seem like much, but the disapproving looks I got from cashiers when my grocery bill turned out to be half Vitamin Water were almost deterrent enough.