From a New York Times column by Frank Bruni headlined “A Requiem for Diet Soda”:

Back in high school, I often woke before my parents did, and I could tell when my mother was about to get out of bed. A sound alerted me. I don’t mean an alarm clock. I mean the crunch-woosh of a can of diet soda being opened. Mom kept one on her night stand. That way, she could have her first sip the very moment her day began.