When I was a kid, maybe eight years old, a case of Diet Pepsi showed up on our front door unannounced.

To many, this might not seem like a memorable moment. But we were a Coke family in a Coke city—a city where “Coke” was the generic term, instead of soda or pop. My mom didn’t drink coffee in the morning, she drank Diet Coke. And she kept drinking Diet Coke through the day, until evening fell, when she’d switch to Caffeine-Free Diet Coke.

Diet Pepsi on our doorstep? How did that get there? Continue reading