Settling in to watch my son’s little league team take the field, I was pretty pleased with myself.  I had by my side a refreshing bottle of grape flavored water that I had picked up at the gas station.  It was going to be a beautiful day watching baseball, while sitting in the sun, and enjoying a delicious beverage.  Life was good.

Watching the game through my sunglasses on a gorgeous Fall day, I reached for my grape-a-licious water.  Twisting open the lid, I anticipated the refreshing rush.  A cooling sensation awaited my parched lips, but as the drink spilled into my mouth, I was shocked, saddened, and disgusted.  The drink was foul, wrong, and nasty.  Not the wonderful grape flavor I desired, but something very different.  Something ungrape.  Had my drink turned?  Can flavored water go bad?

Frantically looking at the bottle through sunglass covered eyes, the color looked right, but something had to be wrong.  Reviewing the label, I saw the problem.  Not an expiration date, not the unveiling of a new “Putrid Blast of Rotten Grape” flavor, no what I saw was the answer.  Clear as day.  “Fruit Punch.”  I had purchased the wrong flavor.  I had expectations that would never be met.  I was blaming the innocent drink, when the only guilty party was myself.  The man who grabs beverages in haste.  The man who has previously unknown grudges against fruit punch.

Settling in to watch my son’s game, while sipping on my inferior beverage, I had learned a valuable life lesson.  Through sunglass darkened lenses, fruit punch looks a lot like grape and one small sip can lead to a bottle full of sadness.