The case of the missing Dew...

So, today was Tuesday, and as is my custom (okay, so it's not my custom, but I do do it quite frequently, either by myself or with a friend), I went down to the cafeteria in my building for "Taco Tuesday". On Tuesdays, they make a really big taco salad, which is really pretty good, and not a bad price for amount of food you get. It's one of the few foods at the cafe I both trust to be good, and am willing to pay for.

Since I was alone today, I got the meal to go, and headed back up to my desk. I went down to the soda machine on my floor (the fountain sodas at the cafeteria are massively overpriced, and I don't really want that much soda normally anyhow) to purchase a can of Mountain Dew. Now, given the title of this post, I'm sure you're all assuming you know what happened, but I'm betting you don't! You see, we've all had the vending machine malfunction where you either don't get a soda at all, or you get the wrong kind of soda. That is not what happened to me today. I put in my change, hit the button, and a can of Mountain Dew was vended.

However, it didn't quite sound right when it came down. The characteristic "thud" was lacking somehow, and when I picked up the can, I understood why. From its weight, it couldn't have been more than half full, if it was even that. More bizarre was that it was a sealed can, with no holes or leaks in it. Somehow, this can only received half (or less) of its allotment on the line, was sealed up as usual, and made its way to our vending machine, where a worker slid it in without noticing.

The can was unopened and intact, but it did have a few dents in it. Given the location and grouping, my assumption was that it was damaged in the vending process, without the soda providing structural stability as it normally would. However, there was no way to be sure of this, and let's just say a half-full, dented can of Mountain Dew is not something I was interested in trying out just to see if it was okay.

So, somewhat bewildered and out of available change, I walked back to my desk and showed off my discovery to my bemused co-workers. I put the can on my desk, where it will likely either ward off, or attract, evil spirts due to its mystical nature. Then, I got some more change, went back to the breakroom, and this time spent the extra money to get a 20 oz bottle of Mountain Dew from the other soda machine. This is one where you can actually see the soda bottles before and as they vend. I think I may have trust issues with concealed vending machines for a while after this...