In the Heat of the Moment

You won't save the Gulf of Mexico, fall in love or find God if you are not drinking enough water. We are reminded that most people walk about in a state of dehydration, depriving their bodies - mostly composed of water - of a basic necessity. The result is irritability, dizziness and muscle cramps.

Unfortunately, people buy water to which refined and colored sugar has been added. This sugar is a bad hitchhiker, like those bedbugs lurking in the shirts you get at Abercrombie and Fitch.

In New York, the tap water tastes great and there is no reason to buy bottled water. The first or second question from a waiter's mouth is usually "Tap or bottled?" Unless you want overpriced bubbles in your glass, you should opt for tap.

In Fort Lauderdale, the tap water has a yellowish tinge and an odd taste by dint of treatment. It is potable but not pleasantly. I used to lug home huge plastic bottles of water from the supermarket. The logistics involved from aisle to register to car to elevator to door to fridge were more irritating than dehydration. I have replaced that business with the purchase of a Brita carafe/water filter. I change the filter once every two months. The result is crystal clear and tasty in a tasteless way. It's also economical and efficient.

All day long, I gaze at the ocean wondering why Florida is not entirely using desalinated water if not for drinking, at least for flushing. We are still a primitive people who in the address of our needs create more problems for ourselves. Another example of this is what I am guessing to be the cause of the universal backache suffered by civilized folks. I recently added some positions to my daily stretching routine that are variations of the basic squat. People do not squat enough. We avoid it because it is an unbecoming position and because our clothes are too tight and ill-designed for its execution. Plus, everyone looks slightly comique in a squat. Our bodies, however, are designed to squat. It is the natural position for defecation. Unfortunately, the design of the ubiquitous toilet bowl means that most people never squat. This is bad for the spine and the back muscles. Toilet bowls should be redesigned so that the rim occurs about a foot above the floor forcing the user into a healthy squat, perhaps with the addition of handles flanking the opening to help steady the wobblers. I suspect this one change in our culture would eliminate billions of dollars in medical treatments and related lost production. Also, if you add the squat to your daily set of exercises, you will derive an almost instantaneous improvement in mobility and strength in your lower back. This can only result in better sex which is an entire other area of popular behavior that has been screwed up by civilization.