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Small-Scale Question Sunday for April 30, 2023

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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Quit being a nancy its literally water. If drinking water is soo arduous for you that you need to think of ways around it, reevaluate your willpower.

Also "aesthetically repulsed" by people who are conscious about their health. The shit you read online 🤦

you need to think of ways around it, reevaluate your willpower.

I am sick of people who somehow choose to be confused about how "some things are easier for some people." It is annoying how the same (not you) person who cackles at my inability to do simple chores , also comes to me for tips on simple google-page-1 social tasks.

Just because the steps are trivial, doesn't mean they are easy for someone to execute. That's not to say that 'just suck it up and do it.' is not valuable advice. But it is never productive to bring it up as the first solution to someone's genuine question.

All of what you are saying is well and good but I think I need to reiterate we are talking about drinking water here, its probably on one of the easiest things to just do after breathing.

If people can be prescribed vegetables and exercise and eating less, Maybe water isn't the worst of it?

It is annoying how the same (not you) person who cackles at my inability to do simple chores

No sympathy for this at all. Its not an immutable trait. The inability to do simple chores is

  1. Embarrassing

  2. Can be fixed in 30 minutes

  3. Why has it not been fixed


I understand there are weird quirks around willpower, but I think a vast majority of the time, it's just people being lazy and making excuses or just being too lush about things.

Not sure I agree. You assume that those who cant do simple chores cant do difficult ones either.

I personally have been pretty good about most things, and especially the hard stuff. But I do struggle to consistently drink water or fold laundry.

If anything, is exactly because I have so many important tasks at hand that the trivial ones fall to the wayside.

Carrying around one of those water jugs all day isn't being health conscious, it's following a stupid trend and acting like you're on a field trip to the Sahara during a 30 minute meeting.

OK so as someone who started carrying around a huge jug of water before it was trendy, I want to explain my reasoning.

I love being hydrated. It's the best feeling, because being dehydrated is the worst feeling.

Thank god I live in America where decent cold water flows relatively freely. European vacations are basically me moving from ice machine to ice machine but still feeling like a desiccated husk. Even with that infrastructure, literally nothing beats having a double-walled vacuum jug with an integrated straw and the perfect amount of ice.

Heading into the office that's too small for an ice machine but has a lukewarm water fountain? Stack the motherfucker with home fridge ice that gets diluted all day. Heading up to bed where I know I'm going to blow through the whole 1.18 liters? Put in just enough cubes to perfectly melt as I wake up at 7am. Going on a walk of indeterminate time and distance (there are toddlers involved)? Grab the water bottle and avoid getting thirsty and pissed off.

I wash fewer cups, I can go longer amounts of time without stopping in a convenience store or interrupting work meetings, and yes I can broadcast palatable aspects of my personality with the 2 stickers I have on there. Water bottles rock.

I love being hydrated. It's the best feeling, because being dehydrated is the worst feeling.

This has got to be the big difference in lived experience. I don't mind feeling dehydrated, it seems like no big deal at all to me to just be kind of thirsty until I arrive at whatever destination has a beverage available. This goes for the proverbial Euro vacation (I'm American also, but actually agree completely with how I see the Euros treat beverages), for a hike with friends, for normal everyday runs, and even for running races short of marathons. Unless I'm doing something where I actually think I'll be in danger, being dehydrated doesn't seem any different to me than some accumulated muscular fatigue or hunger - it'll be fine, I'll arrive somewhere, and I'll enjoy a meal, a beverage, and some rest when I do.

I do think you build up a tolerance. When I was younger I was proud of my ability to go without water - an entire soccer game in the summer with just a couple pulls from my jug was fairly common, and I'd always have a surplus to share.

However, as I've gotten older, I have to stay hydrated enough to support my addiction to caffeine and my love of salt. The difference between how I felt when I'd wake up in the morning and maybe have a sip of water before coffee and work vs now (chugging immediately upon waking up) is vast.

A final point I'd make is being a camel is a great power to have. I still like carrying around a surplus of water. Whether through irresponsibility or circumstances beyond my control, I have frequently found that having a container of the resource most critical to survival close at hand is an overall good practice.

The worst feeling is hyponatremia. Mild dehydration is simply meh.

No one is finishing the entire jug in the span of a 30-minute meeting. As a 2L jug carrier myself, it usually lasts me around 6 hours. I could pull out the excuse that I live in a place with literally the same climate as the Sahara, but no I won't provide excuses for literally carrying water around, you're the ridiculous one for getting peeved by it not me.

I enjoy water when it's a cold, crisp, pure, refreshing glass of filtered water

I too am this picky. I carry around a water jug because that way 95% of the water I drink is exactly in this perfect format. It's convenient as all get out and helped me reduce non-water drinking along with a host of other benefits.

Do you have any evidence that you feel better if you drink more water?

Yes I can relate, but not everything needs to be enjoyed, some things are just done to stay alive and I think its an indisputable fact drinking water is one of them.

You can put a slice of lemon or drink seltzer or put in ice cubes or put in unsweetened flavoring or whatever! But it is a bit ridiculous to do all that to just... drink water.

Edit - Water stans? Am I taking crazy pills? Anyone who isn't a water stan is either dead, obese or has kidney stones, whats next breathing air stans?