Overall, I was a pretty sensible teenager, and there aren’t a lot of things I roll my eyes about when I think back on my adolescence.  However, the other day I saw a television commercial to which I would have reacted very differently 20 years ago.

The ad: Here’s a new soda pop!  It is lavender!  The flavor has a name that does not evoke any fruit or other food occuring in nature!  No calories!  Look at these excited, trendy people drinking it!

My reaction at 16: What a pretty color!  I wonder what it tastes like?  I guess I’ll try it sometime . . . but it’s diet. . . .  Well, I bet Jenny would split one with me, and I’ll drink it with food.  [Artificial sweeteners give me an unpleasant metabolic reaction.]  Ooh, it’s purple!!

My reaction at 36: No calories, no nutrients . . . so it’s a bottle of nothing for $2?!  No thanks!  I’d rather drink lemonade and buy some more purple clothes at Goodwill.

Hmm, I guess I have matured!