rip-its

To survive a 12 hour shift, seven days a week, we each found vices and methods to get us through. For some, it was a vicious smoking habit. For others, the pull-up bar. For me (and many others), the ubiquitous little silver cans of Rip-It energy drink were aluminum-encased magic. The dining hall carried a selection of flavors kept deliciously cold in a fridge within the main sitting area. I usually polished one off with whatever meal I was consuming, and then went back to the fridges to snag a few more. We weren’t really supposed to carry out more than one at a time, and with a uniformed military member standing watch at the exit you couldn’t get away with too much. But, most of us crammed at least two or three into our various pockets, and strutted out with one in a hand as well. 

My personal favorite was the blue can. Sugar-free, it had this certain flavor that felt like a jolt of caffeine mainlined right into your brain. With temperatures in the high 120s in the summer months, the cans never stayed cold for long so it was crucial to chug those babies down as fast as you could. 

If the blue cans weren’t available, I’d settle for an orange can any day. Red was never really my style. Too much like fruit punch, a taste I abhorred even in my little kid days. 

The unfortunate side-effect of so much caffeine was that it added to my difficulties falling asleep each night. There were plenty of other reasons why sleep was elusive, but I’m pretty sure my Rip-It habit was a contributing factor as well.