I am that fool…

Yup, I am that fool tapping away his Diet-Pepsi can. Why? Because quite some time ago, back in school to be more specific. I hung out with a couple of friends whom I credit for teaching me the unwritten secrets and rules of this world. One of which was in order to prevent your carbonated beverage from exploding all over you; you must (and this is vital) tap a couple of times on the top of your Pepsi can, or risk becoming the butt of all jokes. A couple of taps, that’s all! Surprisingly this habit stuck with me all those years. But “Does it work?” you might ask. It brings me back to the age-old philosophical question “If a man says something, and no woman is there to hear him, is he still wrong?”. Similarly, if you don’t tap the cap of your Pepsi can a couple of times, will it explode all over the place? Interesting question; you can try of course. But you’d risk having to clean up the mess. It has always been safer to just tap-tap-tap and everything is hunky-dory. Come to think of it. Don’t we do things like that all the time without even knowing if they actually work, just because someone somewhere claimed they would? How about drinking a glass of water with another's palms against one's ears to cure a hiccup? How about placing a blue bead on all of your possessions to protect you from the envious hordes. How about not opening your umbrella indoors? That’s a preventive measure that I don’t think anyone can prove actually works. What about staying at home and not going to clubs, hotels, showrooms, or canceling events altogether just to stay safe? Well Whoop-Tee-Dee-Do. I just tied tapping on my Diet Pepsi can, to post-terrorism-trauma. I find it amusing how we spend our lives doing all sorts of things to protect us from all sorts of evils. Whether those evils are self detonating terrorists, spirits from beyond or a huge stream of carbonated beverage in our face. I guess I can safely conclude we’re a bunch of trusting people. And I wonder is that a problem?