Drip. Drip. Drip. I internally groan. Drip. Drip. Drop. I clench my hands into fists. Drop. Drip. Drip. I push my head into my hands. Something about that despicable noise makes my skin crawl. I never knew why, but the sound a liquid makes while being poured into a glass made me want to run and hide. The scratching of ice cubes, the drop of liquid, the swirling of the glass… I want to throw up. 

I can distinctly remember a time when I got into a heated argument with my stepdad on the matter. He was in the kitchen making his infamous rum and Coke drink after a long day of work. He placed a handful of ice cubes into a glass and cracked open a can of soda. He slowly started pouring the contents into the glass and all I could hear was the crackle and pop of the Coke hitting the ice cubes. Some people may call it satisfactory, but definitely not me. My fingers itched to cover my ears and my legs didn’t know if they wanted to stand still or violently shake. He took a long swig of his concoction and let out an audible “Ahh”. 

“How do you find that refreshing? That noise kills me!” I stated ardently. 

“Pouring me a glass of rum and Coke lets me wind down. The noise just proves its satisfaction!” my stepdad joked. 

The argument continued with me trying my hardest to persuade my stepdad not to make another drink because of that hideous noise. But to no avail did it work. Why won’t he listen to me? Why can’t he see how degrading that noise is? Am I the only one who thinks this way?

It occurred to me then that even though that sound could ruin my evening, it was also what made my evening better. If it wasn’t for that egregious noise that sounded when my stepdad made his late-night drink, we wouldn’t have fun blasting heavy metal music in the basement while my mom wasn’t home. It was those awful noises of liquid being poured into a glass that allowed my stepdad to relax after a hard day at work and deal with my antics for having an absurd pet peeve. I might as well deal with that sound no matter how annoying it may be to me.