Water's free, man!

One of my favorite commercials was for a product that I don't remember. Aren't most commercials that way? Everyone looks forward to the Super Bowl for the new commercials that are debuted because most of them are very funny or at least memorable in some way. For years the advertising team at Anheuser-Busch led the way with their wacky and far out entries. Who could forget the Bud-Weis-Er frogs or Spuds Mackensie? Wonder what will happen this year, now that A-B is owned by InBev? No, this particular commercial showed some people hiking near a stream and it was supposed to be back in the 70's, and one guy says to another guy, would you like to buy a bottle of water, and the other guy says, "Water's free, man!". The idea was, who (back in the 70's) could envision a day when people would pay for a bottle of water. Something that can be poured from a tap for free? Yesterday I talked about the high prices charged for sodas at restaurants. Water is not much different. Some restaurants and fast food joints are selling bottled water along side their normal soda offerings. And vendors at football stadiums and baseball parks around the country are commanding as much as $4 a bottle for water! Yes, $4.00! I read recently where now many local government offices around the country are getting rid of bottled water. Mainly because of efforts to be seen as "green", or environmentally "friendly". But here in St. Louis, Missouri, we have what has been tested as the "best tap water in the country"! This was once the main reason to buy bottled water, taste, because many local communities had bad tap water that either didn't taste good or had questionable minerals and other chemicals or toxins in it. Others claimed that they preferred to buy bottled water because of the convenience of the resealable containers, but you can buy any sports bottle and fill it with tap water, or just re-use the bottled water container when you're done. It has even been suggested that some companies actually use tap water in their bottled water! Fresh mountain stream? I doubt it. I say, give tap water a try, why spend extra money on a label? Water (is still) free, man!