The History of Waco’s Big Red and Some Things You Might Not Know About it

Waco just might be the town where soda was perfected.

I came down to Texas in February 2002 for a job interview. My old boss in Bismarck brought me down for a visit, and to try to get me a gig.

He tried to give me a little history of the state, but since his time spent here was mainly in a booze and drug haze, the history lesson was a little iffy. One question I asked was...

"What the hell is Big Red?"

He was flabbergasted that I had never tried it. He went to the soda machine and bought me one. I didn't have the heart to tell him that didn't drink soda pop anymore. My body had begun to reject it. I lived on Mt Dew through the first 25 years of my life, to the point where any pop that goes into my body comes out in the form of kidney stones. But hey, I was trying to get a job for gosh sakes, and if that means I had to swallow something, well, it could've been worse.

The sugar substitute hit the back of my throat and I new there was no way I was going to finish it. Told him it was good, because, really, it kind of was good. I had a little regret that I hadn't known about this when I was younger so I could've really enjoyed it. After a few more swallows, I "accidentally" spilled the can, and went and got two bottles of water to wash it out of my system before the stones began to form.

As a whole, Texans really do love their Big Red, and if you find some with real Cane Sugar, you might have a better chance taking their gun before they'd give up the Big Red.