The Waters of March

The office I work in has had a water cooler since I started. One of those water coolers with the big 5-gallon water bottle on it that you have to replace each time it runs out. And, with 16 people in the office, we've been going through about 8 bottles every 2 weeks.

The first time I ever came across one of those water things was when I was a little kid and we would go visit my grandparents in South Gate (CA), and they had their water delivered by Sparkletts. Of course, back in those days, you had to take the full cap off of the bottle before trying to flip it over onto the stand. It was always a challenge to invert it without pouring water all over the place. (These days, there is usually just a small piece you remove, to reduce the amount of water that comes pouring out.)

Because I have such great memories of those times out in my grandparents' house, I have always really liked the "glub blub blub" sound that the air bubbles make as they go up through the water in the 5-gallon bottles. And, since my desk moved closer to the kitchen area a few months ago, I've been enjoying hearing that familiar little noise from time to time.

Adding to the old-time pleasure of this, every two weeks, the guy from the water company shows up at our office and swaps out our empty bottles for full ones. We exchange smalltalk as he walks in and out. And then, after that innocuous chat, we have brand new water.

Well, today, a new water cooler got brought in. It's actually a full filtration system, hooked up to the water supply in the kitchen. It's very streamlined, with push buttons on the front for hot or cold water, and a "soda dispenser" style trigger at the back that you press your cup up against. Apparently it's more hygienic, and it may save the company money over time. I'm sure it's supposed to be a good thing.

But I'm going to miss that every-two-week visit from the water delivery guy.

And it doesn't make that old familiar noise.

So how good a thing can it really be?