Monday, January 5, 2026

Detergent

  As I have said previously, being a kid required science experiments to try out. I was a curious boy.  I never took chemistry, but I tried a chemistry experiment.  

 What would a combination of vinegar and dishwashing detergent taste like?  It sounds gross, and I have to admit it was, but a drink is a drink.  The first time I drank it, I threw up outside.  When you heard that your mother was going to wash your mouth out with soap, it was kind of like that.  I was foaming at the mouth from the detergent.  

 As time went on, I began to like the taste.  It was nasty, but I could tolerate it.  I would only drink this concoction on Saturday mornings, as I prepared for the sound of the noon siren.  There was no chugging of my drink.  Just a little sip or three.  My mother started to wonder why her vinegar and detergent seemed to be lessening.  She caught me taking some one morning, and I felt the paddle.  

 That was the end of my mixed drinks, at least until college.  Some would say that my drink made me clean inside.  It did.