I just think the vast majority of us aren't in any real danger of dehydration.
As a recent tourist of the great cities of D.C., Boston, and N.Y., walking literal miles a day, I found myself fascinated by on-the-go beverage consumption, and seflie-sticks.
But more by our obsession with hydration.
Perhaps I'm predisposed to noticing plastic fallout on streets, gutters, and teetering on overflowing trash bins, but after a few weeks playing "observer" on the other side of the country, I'll state without any hint of exaggeration that we are a nation chained to the teat of Big Beverage (Water, Juice, Soda, Coffee, Smoothie...).
Obviously we need to hydrate - but we're American, so we need to do other stuff at the same time. We can't be spending all kinds of time sitting around with cups and glasses, we have to hydrate on the go-go-go.
Granted, I'm used to this - See it pretty much everywhere (trying to think if there is anywhere I haven't seen it...). But what got all up in my craw this trip were the sippy-cups at the theater.
I'm not even that old, but old enough it seems to be galled by fellow theater goers at a New York showing of Book of Mormon (delightful), nursing their adult sippy-cups of wine and beer.
Aside from the fact that wine can't possibly taste good out of a plastic tumbler, coupled with the fact that there is no way to look dignified drinking out of a sippy cup, tripled by the fact that you are definitely contributing to the MOST wasteful way to enjoy a beverage, I almost can't find words.
I borrowed this image from Christina DiRusso's twtrland feed (have no idea what that even means) but she is online and she seems sweet and quirky and had this perfect picture of sippy cups at Book of Mormon (click through for a link to her page). Can't help but notice the sippy cup on the left has a straw in it making it even wastier. Almost no words.
So there I was, waiting for the show to start all inwardly snorty about the sippy cups, and then I started noticing people sucking from their single use disposable water bottles - like vacuum inhaling the sides inward on the plastic water bottle so that it makes that crinkly sound, and then "whoooshes" when disengaged.
But who am I to judge?
Who's to say these good folks hadn't just finished a big run, jumped into their theater-wear, and bee-lined it to their seats as not to be late? Thank goodness for so many hydration choices. Just think of all the lives... affected... by near constant hydration. If we try just a little harder though, maybe we can bump that 60% human body water measurement to a respectable 75%.
Because at 60%, aren't we really just failing?