My Shame

So, I have to admit something to you, and I'm not proud of this at all.

I like Red Bull. There, I said it.

I need to explain. A year ago, I took my first tentative sips of a Red Bull. Teenagers wearing jet packs were handing it out for free at Millennium Park. I only took like 3 baby sips because I was afraid of what the effect of that much caffeine would have on my body. And guess what? I liked it.

I typically scorn beverages such as Mountain Dew (yuck!), would never consider sipping Jolt, or the like. So what was I going to do with my new found hankering for Red Bull?

My first step was to consider how much caffeine was actually in a Red Bull. To my great delight, not nearly as much as I previously thought. RB contains a mere 80 milligrams. Compare that to brewed coffee which has 80- 135 milligrams. I wouldn't think twice about drinking a cup of coffee! This was getting exciting. And what other glorious results did my Google search turn up? A Starbucks tall coffee (that's the smallest size, folks) is a whopping 240 milligrams!

With the caffeine confusion cleared up, I felt much freer to enjoy my new beverage. Or was I? Soon guilt trip #2 kicked in. You know how much a Red Bull costs? Too much for me to justify! One little can costs like $2.49. 2 bucks can provide clean water for a year for two whole children. Isn't that a slightly better way to spend my 2+ dollars?!

For now, Red Bull will have to remain a very occasional drink choice for me. To read more about how you can provide clean water for people who are truly thirsty, Blood:Water Mission.