To wonder how we survived without constantly drinking water while working in previous decades?

[Chinsupmeloves]

A bit lighthearted but also a serious question!

Looking back at all the jobs I've had from age 16, working while at university and career after, it wasn't commonplace to have a Stanley or filled bottle nearby. We had breaks and mostly had a quick coffee and a food, same at lunchtime. No one took bottles of water, hot drinks or cans, that was it! At school also, juice at break and lunch then drink water at home.

A) On the one hand I feel the obsession with keeping hydrated has been propelled by the manufacturers of drinking vessels, especially with the imprinted quantities for times of the day, insulated to keep cool and so on. From this POV it seems OTT when people are walking around a supermarket with their bottles with the fear their bodies may shrivel up. In schools, having them on their desks, the bottle flipping, guzzling down a litre of juice from home in the first 10 mins of a lesson then desperate for the toilet, stating it's a human right to drink til you busrt! In addition the sales of plastic bottles of water to continue to carry around, you should see the bins overflowing with them in every classroom, so much for encouraging environmental values.

B) I've also realised yes it is important to keep hydrated during the day and we need more than a few cups of coffee as fluid to keep us sustained. I was one of the few, as a teacher, who would bring in a small carton of juice to sip at (days before reusable were used for anyrhing than to clip on your bike) as I got thirsty! I was however told off, that I shouldn't be drinking those few sips during lessons, yes truth. It was only a bit as drinking more would mean I would need to go to the loo, which I knew was impossible at break times when on duty or lunch when I had meetings, detentions, extra tuition. To walk to the staff toilets meant 2 blocks away outside, flights of stairs and a queue, so it was a scheduled comfort.

Back to the point...

AIBR Drinking during breaks and lunch is perfectly adequate, no need for constant sipping, especially in schools where it can cause so much disruption by those who take the mick.

AIBU We need to consistently sip to help us with talking, feeling well and focus.

As an adult I now value being able to have a bottle nearby at work, in the car on long journeys, but not a constant need everywhere I go. Xxx

What gets me is the inane continual 'sipping' from a water bottle instead of taking a good swig and putting the bottle away for a period of time,. I'm quite sure kids only insist on sipping during lessons so that they can then make an excuse to go to the loo! We were never allowed to go to the loo during lessons - you waited until break.

Whn l started working in the late 80’s we also had this. But there were buns and cakes too on the trolley!

Used to eat them all the time with no significant damage to the waistline. God help me if l tried that now!

I heard it’s causing bladder issues in young children as our bladders are supposed to fill through ‘swigging’ then empty. Not be half empty all the time.

Sorry, but if you are this obsessed about how much water other people drink and why, I don't think you can accurately describe yourself as 'us normal people'.

Ah, I disagree. It’s like people who don’t believe in fairies (normal) and those who do (not normal).

The only reason to gulp - or sip - water all the time is because it’s a trend (foolish, but whatever) or in the belief that it’s good for you, which is like believing in fairies.

This is about a a rational as believing in fairies. Where’s your evidence a steady low supply of water is bad for people?
Also, kids don’t really do this. Far more people dont drink enough water than too much.

I drink water a lot. Always keep two pints on the side table near me and woukd never eat a meal without a drink. My family sometimes tease me.

It is because I get thirsty. I remember holding back my thimble full of juice to gulp after my dinner at school and being so thirsty all of the time. I don’t understand how people can go ages without drinking.

😂😂 WTF? You’ve been had!

Does it not worry you that you feel thirsty all the time?

Love Georgie Carroll - student nurses/water bottles https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1BmZA8Bsdg/?mibextid=wwXIfr

It IS good for you to drink water and it IS recommended to do so regularly throughout the day.

You don't have to do it - and nobody would care if you don't - but no need to pretend you are qualified to tell others what they should be doing.

Here's a few respected sources of information to balance out your 'advice'.
Water, drinks and hydration - NHS
Tips for drinking more water - Mayo Clinic Health System
How much water should I drink a day? - Harvard Health

And again I ask - why do you care? Why are you online, wondering aloud why other people drink more water than you do and belittling them for it? Why do you act like you know more about the bodies of strangers on the internet than they know about themselves? It's bizarre that you are giving this any headspace at all, do you have absolutely nothing else going on in your mind and your life?

Im not thirsty all of the time. But I get thirsty and I hate it, so I keep water nearby to quench it. I’ve had four pints today and am just about to have more, not because of whatever the PP was wittering on about, but because I’m thirsty.

But I haven’t said people shouldn’t drink water. I said that it’s fascinating to watch constant water gulpers to work out why they do it. If you want to drink unnecessary amounts of water and pee a lot, knock yourself out.

I’m intrigued about why people in the UK - not exactly a roasting hot country - who carry water around with them all the time get so defensive when this subject comes up.

The sources you linked to suggest that people needn’t drink water in this faddy way. From the Harvard link:

Tips for avoiding dehydration
To ward off dehydration, drink fluids gradually, throughout the day. An easy way to do this is to have a drink at each meal, as well as socially, or with medicine.
^^
And know that you also get fluids from water-rich foods, such as salads, fruit, and applesauce.

I was at school in the late 60s/early 70s when schools had drinking fountains. You drank water at break if you wanted it, jug of water on the table at lunchtime. That was it. You could ask to go for a drink during classtime but this was usually just to get out of class and denied by teachers, only enforced for hiccups or 'feeling sick'.

We're still here. Our education didn't seem to be sub par, we're (mostly) intelligent people, not a subclass of dehydrated Gollums. I am one of these people who doesn't really feel thirst and have to remember to drink so I don't get dehydration headaches, and I can STILL manage without carrying a bottle of water around and sucking at it.

It's fashion, I think, that's all. Being told we 'have' to drink 1L, 2L, 5L a day is one of those 'health guidelines' (like only exercising once a day during Covid) that has never been a rule it's just a number plucked out of a hat by someone put on the spot. Everyone took it to heart and now they're trundling around with a suitcase full of water looking for toilets every hour.

Why do you feel so strongly that people shouldn’t drink water when they want to?

But we were thirsty. Maybe not you if you feel thirst so little you have to remember to drink, but many of us were very thirsty.

Some people say they often forget to eat and have to remind themselves. We know it would be mad to apply that to others and insist they’re not hungry.

I’ve just answered that. I don’t.

But why are you so invested in drinking water non-stop and caring what other people think when they see you slurping?

You clearly do. Even the word ‘slurping’. It’s like you think people are greedy for drinking water. Very odd.

@PigeonsandSquirrels As kids we drank water out of the hose while out playing. In the mornings my mom (and the rest of the moms on the block) would kick us out of the house to play and we knew not to go back. Hence the hose!

Why is it odd to be curious about people drinking pointless quantities of water?

I’ve already said go for it if that’s what you want. But it’s not ‘odd’ to wonder why you’d do this, anymore than it’s odd to wonder why someone would have a face tattoo or wear sunglasses indoors in the winter.

When does water become ‘pointless’? What’s the maximum some should drink?

Beat me to it!

Has it worked? Has constant sipping of water "massively improved the academic performance of children"? Because I can't see any example of it in the school-leavers I interact with on a regular basis.

I took a water bottle to school every day, I left school in 2008.

Weeel, apart from medical issues! I don’t get thirsty any more, and if I gulp liquids I choke / spew (thanks Parkinson’s) so I do sip constantly, but I really don’t think that explains why youngsters these days appear to be part dolpjin 😂