look under the cap

i noticed that the coke bottle i bought at the c-store downstairs has a promo going on in it, win a 50" Sony LCD TV - look under the cap, as usual. after two minutes of trying to get the label off, my mind made a quick trip down memory lane, to my looking under the crown adventures in my younger years. nothing could replace those moments where there is excitement everytime you buy a bottle of coke (or pepsi) for yourself (or for someone else) on a sari-sari store(a very small version of a convenience store, for you western readers. as small as your apartment bathroom, but has everything you would ever need, from a sachet of shampoo, to chips and refreshments, to a kilo of chicken or beef, even cooking ingredients). softdrinks(soda, pop, whatever you wanna call it) companies never run out of promotion, so you're essentially looking under the crown every time you buy a bottle of their product.

back to the sari-sari, this little stores would not allow you to take home their bottle, without giving up a deposit. why? because you could sell it to those roving recycling guys, actually junkshop guys for 25c. so you would usually go home with your drink on a small transparent plastic bag(just big enough to hold a 500ml without overflowing), with a straw in it. and hey, if you didn't ask for the crown (crowns for the glass bottle era, caps for plastics), they wouldn't give it to you. so you gotta ask always! and if you have befriended a store owner who didn't care or just too busy to deal with the crowns, you could ask for them. and if you're lucky, you would have a bag-full of crowns to check.

then comes the time when you have to redeem your winning crowns, mostly just another free drink. most stores won't entertain them, so you would usually wait for the softdrinks delivery truck to come by, and claim your prize from them directly. and since they only stop on the stores who needs replenishment, you usually have to chase them to their next stop. and they don't put it on plastic bags like the stores do, so you would need a spare bottle to exchange with them (but usually you don't). what do you do now? you guessed it, you have to drink the slightly warm softdrink(they were exposed to the sun the whole day on an open truck, so you're lucky if the delivery came in the morning) right away and try to finish it before their business with the current store is over, otherwise they would take your unfinished warm drink away =( that's how it is, you were just a kid, and they were grown-ups, bullies at that! but i still consider that as part of the joy of being a kid looking under the crowns. you'd win yo-yo's sometimes, posters, t-shirts, but most of the time, just plain warm bottle of softdrinks that you have to finish in haste. oh wait, there was a time too when all you'd get where signatures and faces of the Menudo band members Robby, Ricky, Ray, Roy, and Charlie. Like an explosion! My love for you. It's an explosion! lol!