Pet Peeve of the Week - Slow Opening Soda in Lectures

In a corporate presentation this week, I was reminded of a pet peeve of mine - slowly opening soda cans in order to try to make less noise while in lectures, meetings or presentations.

While I know the perpetrators have the best of intentions, namely to avoid distraction and noise during the talk, the “slow open” makes more noise for a longer amount of time and draws attention to the “slow opener”. In my opinion, the proper thing to do is to just open the thing fast; it will make a slightly loud, but very quick noise; and then it is over and the beverage is ready to be enjoyed. It’s like taking off a Band-Aid; don’t slowly peel it off - that hurts, just rip the damn thing off!

So please, do the honorable thing, just open it! Or better yet, bring coffee or tea or a beverage that doesn’t have to be opened. Maybe a juice box !