How to Make It in Life

One thing that gives me pause in the course of the day is drinking water from those giant 5-gallon water coolers at work. For one must consider that the water is coming from a bottle once used by someone else.

I had a friend who would store her used 5-gallon bottles, open end up, outside in her back yard. When it would rain, water would collect in these bottles. Eventually the water would stagnate, leading to the growth of algae, mosquito larvae and all other sorts of nastiness. When she needed more water delivered, she would dry the bottles out and have the delivery guy replace them.

And those disgusting bottles probably found their way back into circulation, into people's homes and offices. Now I'm pretty sure bottled water companies clean out their bottles before refilling them with fresh mountain spring water, but can they really clean everything? Do they submerge them in hot boiling water and scrub the inside for at least 20 minutes? Well if not, don't be surprised if you look in your water cooler one day and spot a few fresh-water sea monkeys swimming about.