This Gen Alpha Trend Has Millennials Wondering If They Just Spent Their Entire Childhoods Dehydrated
Recently Reddit user GetnLine asked the question that's been on a lot of millennials' minds: "were we dehydrated through our childhood?"
"As I look at kids in school today, they all have huge water bottles that they carry around, and let's not even speak on those Stanley cups. Meanwhile, if I wanted water while in school, I had to walk to the water fountain in the middle of the hallway. Thinking back to my school days, I probably drank from that water fountain once or twice a day, and the only other thing I drank was milk at lunch. So, were we dehydrated and just didn't notice it?"
A lot of people agreed that they don't really remember drinking water:
"I don't remember purposely drinking water as a child. Juice or Kool-Aid, sure. Just water? Only from the hose, ironically."
—WellWicced
"When my brothers and I first met our cousins in Florida, it absolutely blew our minds that they drank water. Like, on purpose. Until that point in my life, I couldn't recall anyone ever voluntarily consuming plain water except as a last resort."
—kendalltristan
"I talked to my mom about this, and she said she doesn't remember drinking water or really giving us water or really anyone caring about drinking water until Oprah started talking about it, lol."
—Fuck_auto_tabs
"I remember thinking in high school, 'I can't wait 'til I'm an adult so I can carry a water bottle everywhere and take a drink whenever I want one!' True story."
—SparkleShineGlitter
Although, there was a limited supply from school water fountains, of course:
"If the whole class went to the water fountain there was a teacher standing there counting '1,2,3 you're done.'"
—glitterr_rage
"I just had a flashback to the entire line yelling 'save some for the fishes!' if you took too long."
—Petal170816
"I remember being so hot and so thirsty after gym class. A three-second warm-ass drink from a stank fountain was all we got. I carry a big-ass water bottle with me too these days, haha."
—cactuschili
"I got yelled at and sent to timeout by a gym teacher because I asked for a drink of water during gym class outside on a hot day. I was 7 years old."
—NeitherPot
"I remember there were some kids who put their entire mouth directly in the fountain. It was super gross."
—Cold_Coconut4079
Mostly, people drank things that weren't water back in the day...
"I survived on grape Kool-Aid. It was made from water, so it counts, right?"
—cuppa_cat
"Either Juicy Juice (100% actual juice) or Hawaiian Punch (maybe at best 10% juice, but still delicious)."
—rizzesblackcloud
"Does anyone remember TANG? I loved that shit."
—Skelligean
"Country Time lemonade here…like a gallon a day."
—Similar-Lie-5439
"I survived on milk. Hated the taste of water and refused to drink it unless I was about to pass out from dehydration and there was no other option."
—Ilaxilil
And yes, everyone was probably dehydrated:
"I used to get the worst dehydration headaches. I can't remember the last time I had one."
—HyperSaurus
"My mom took me to the pediatrician and eye doctor for my chronic headaches. Finally, after nothing worked, my pediatrician recommended just drinking more water and Gatorade. Cut the headaches in half."
—allnightdaydreams
"I had to get a doctor's note to carry a water bottle because dehydration was exacerbating my heart condition. My teacher still sent me to the office for having one!"
—kilowatkins
"For years I struggled to poop. Turns out being hydrated can cure that! Not a single doctor or any adult put this together…"
—Kattymcgie
"I used to have 'fainting spells' as a child often, and it was always dehydration."
—StickerProtector
"I would wake up in the middle of the night with those charlie horse leg cramps all year long, but it became especially bad during softball season. Oof, I drank so little water and so much Mountain Dew."
—MercyTheCat
Can you relate to this?! Did we all just spend our childhoods really, REALLY dehydrated? Do you now carry an emotional support water bottle as a result? Tell me all about it in the comments.
Note: Responses have been edited for length/clarity.
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