“Where is the free soda?”

I had just opened the fridge in the office kitchen when I blurted this out in a puzzled tone because, much to my chagrin, there was no soda.

Ever since my first internship, every company has offered free soda. Carbonated beverages (sometimes called “pop” based on where you live) are an ingrained part of the techie culture, especially for software developers working long hours and late nights.

After writing code for a few hours straight I always looked forward to taking a break and sipping an ice cold Diet Coke–or two or three. Of course the caffeine boost never hurt.

Confused, I closed the fridge door and went down to my co-worker Frank’s cube.

“Dude, there is no soda in the fridge. What’s up with that?”

Without looking up from his dual monitors, Frank responded “When you were out sick yesterday, our new CFO announced there would be no more free soda.”

“What? That’s crazy. How much can soda possibly cost?”

Frank, eyes still locked onto his displays, agreed. “I know right? Now we have to walk downstairs to the vending machine and dish out a $1.50. It’s bad enough we have to walk to the kitchen.”

I figured this must be an oversight. So I headed down to our manager’s office. Sue was a cool manager. She always listened to us, and I was sure she could straighten everything out.

I poked my head into her office and asked, “Have a minute Sue?”

“Sure, have a seat.

I plopped down in her guest chair and said, “I was surprised to find no sodas in the fridge this morning. What happened?”

Sue smiled. “Yeah, it’s a new cost-cutting measure that Cheryl, our new CFO, put into place. You’ll have to hit the vending machine or bring your own case of soda in. Sodas don’t cost that much right?

“That was my point exactly, Sue! What kind of message does this send about the company if free sodas are going to break the bank?”

Sue gave me her empathetic look. She always had a way of making her team feel she totally understood their point of view. She was promoted from the developer ranks after all, so she knew what we needed.

“I totally get it, but our stalled economy has dragged down sales, so we have to make choices. You may have noticed the free snack bar is gone as well. But at least no one has been let go, right?”

Shocked, I said, “Wait, what? The candy and energy bars are gone too?”

Sue shrugged her shoulders. “You’ll survive. Maybe we can all pitch in and take turns buying soda and snacks?”

I shook my head. “C’mon, Sue. Would you rather have us focused on writing code or worrying about whose turn it was to pony up for soda and snacks?”

Now Sue’s frowned. “Ok, now you need to take a step back. Not only do you have a job, but a well-paying job. You can afford the soda! Besides, there is nothing we can do about it until sales grow again. Cheryl isn’t going to change her mind, so please go write some code so we can sell more of it, ok?”

Seemed she didn’t understand us after all.

Despondent, I left Sue’s office. Sure I could afford to buy my own soda, but there were days when the energy bars were my only sustenance because there just wasn’t time to leave the office and make our deadlines. And the caffeinated sodas kept us coding well into the night.

By the way, the coffee was still free. But I never drank coffee, and those who did said it was terrible anyway.

Not surprising, the soda controversy became an ongoing hot topic of conversation in the developer cubes.

Shaun was the lone health nut on our team and therefor was taking the changes in stride. “You people should be thanking Cheryl. You’ll have less unpleasant trips to the dentist.”

Frank shot back “But I only drank diet soda!

Shaun laughed. “Yeah, and all soda corrodes your teeth. And what about those handfuls of M&Ms you scooped up on the hour? Besides, not only does this save a few thousand dollars each year, having you goobers drink less soda will save the company money on health care premiums.”