John Burnett, Liquid Pleasures (1999), notes the irony that a
commercial market in bottled drinking water flourishes at a time and in
places where safe drinking water is available from the tap.  We can
debate why, but at least part of the explanation has to be that the
consumers of bottled water have the means to pay for it.  People with
money seem anxious to find ways to spend it in ways that confirm their
status.  At least in the USA, smoking is unfashionable, maybe the only
legal drug that is dismissed as lower class.

On Mar 28, 2005, at 3:17 PM, Jon Miller wrote:

> My wife and I had a nice meal at an area restaurant with an extensive
> menu of "martinis" which rarely included gin. They were mainly vodka
> with sweet and colorful things such as juices, syrups, or liqueurs.
> All served in martini glasses. My wife compared these "martinis" to
> the "coffees" offered at Starbuck's. It seems to me that most any
> indulgence at Starbuck's is permissible because the beverage is
> coffee, which Americans associate with overworking, industry,
> brainwork, and other good industrious connotations. A milkshake at
> Starbuck's is still a coffee drink in the eyes of most people. I
> wonder if the word "martini" is not evolving in a similar fashion to
> give an edge to drinks that are heavily fortified with alcohol and
> sugar. Jon
>