Every time I travel, I always end up writing about Coca-Cola. It is far and away the world’s most globalized and ubiquitous product. It is everywhere I have ever gone, no matter how remote, no matter how snobbish towards American cultural influence, no matter the poverty that inundates a place. I have written about being offered Coca-Cola in a village a six hour walk from the nearest road; the Coke came in on the back of a mule. I have written how in Guatemala, when you ask for “agua” you get a Coke; you have to ask for an “agua pura” if you want regular water. I have tasted Coke in big cans, small cans, plastic bottles, glass bottles in 8 oz, 12 oz and half liter sizes, and the mostly in America, Coke from a soda fountain. I have tasted the differences in sweetness depending on the local community’s preferences. In short, I have been around a lot of Coke ......... Coca-Cola!
After all this, I was surprised to have a new Coca-Cola experience yesterday that yet again defined the drink’s worldly ubiquitousness. I was given coke as money. After buying my lunch yesterday, the woman didn’t have enough change to give me bills, so she gave some bills, some coins, and a Coca-Cola. Move over, the dollar, the euro, gold, Coca-Cola is the new world currency. Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating this one instance’s importance, but it is an interesting insight into a global product which we almost don’t even notice any longer, it has become part of the background of our lives.
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