The difference in taking cough medicine when you’re a kid versus an adult:
Kid: You don’t remember taking it before but something about that shimmering spoonful of liquid that manages to be both purple and brown at the same time triggers fear in you. This is a trick. They’ll have to strap you down and pry your mouth open before you’ll let that in your mouth.
Adult: It can’t possibly be as bad as you remember.
Kid: Bleh, that is the most horrible, awful, disgusting thing you’ve ever had in your mouth, and you were once tricked into trying kale.
Adult: How is it worse than you remember? Seriously, that is the worst thing you’ve ever had in your mouth. Okay, there was that one time in college at a party when what you thought was a rum and Coke was the spit cup being used by that one guy who chewed tobacco…no, this is worse.
Kid: It’s been ten whole minutes. How is the horrible taste still there? At this point you’d drink anything, even water, to get rid of it. And when is it supposed to make you stop coughing?
Adult: It’s only been ten minutes. Is it too early to drink some water?
Kid: You’re never taking that crap ever again. You’ll never risk getting a cold. You’ll never go outside. What’s that? Your friends are sledding. Now you remember why you agreed to take it in the first place. Where’s your coat? Never mind. You won’t need it. But first you’re going to sit down on the couch for a minute.
Adult: The label says “may cause drowsiness”. When is that supposed to kick in? Some sleep would be nice for a change. Must not work on you for some reason. You’ll just sit down on the couch for a minute.
Kid: Why is it dark? Oh, it’s been about four hours. Oh no. You feel another cough coming. You have to suppress it or they’ll give you another dose.
Adult: How are you still tired after sleeping for more than four hours? Oh great, here comes more coughing. Time to take some more. It can’t be as bad as you remember, right?
Kid: Maybe if you scream enough next time you’ll get the kind that tastes like candy.
Adult: Next time you’re buying the kind that tastes like candy.
When I was a little girl, I used to absolutely love unsweetened Kool-Aid. I used to impress my friends by drinking it by the cup. Medicine in liquid form was not an issue for me, though I still hated the taste.
Emily Slatin recently posted…Desideratum
I’d forgotten that at one time you had to add your own sugar to Kool-Aid, which, now that you mention it, was one of the selling points: parents could control how much sugar their kids were ingesting. My mother went through a long period of not letting me have any sugar at all, which just made me want it even more.
I’ve always loved the honesty behind the Buckley’s ad campaigns—Tastes awful, but it works.
mydangblog recently posted…What?
Every time I down a spoonful of really awful cough medicine I think maybe the taste is part of the cure. It’s so bad it makes your body fight the cold even harder so you won’t have to take anymore.
This post is one for the ages, Chris, and it went down like candy.