In the 1960's, I worked at New Way Market, a small local grocery store in Byron, Oklahoma on Saturdays. An elderly couple, Orville and Vera Winters operated the small business. Vera was one who hid her husband's drinking problem. He was a polio victim and stumbled a bit anyway. It was well known by many that Orville and Vodka were good friends. He hid his liquor in the store room and would often go to the back room for a few minutes each day. While I worked there as a stocker and clerk, I often went to the store room to get new stock for the shelves. I noticed an old abandoned meat locker with a glass front that had many empty liquor bottles inside. I really never thought much of it because many old things were stored in the huge stock room.

This one very hot July Saturday, Vera and I were busy stocking shelves and had to get the produce from the back room which was very hot because it was not ventilated. Vera was wet with perspiration (not sweat ;-) ) when we returned to the grocery area. She wiped her brow and told me to grab a cola and she would just take a sip of Orville's Coke. I got my Pepsi as she walked over to Orville's desk and grabbed his bottle of Coke that was sitting on top. She tipped it way up for a big swig and suddenly she started coughing, sputtering and choking.

Vera placed the Coke bottle back on top of Orville’s desk and looked at me with wide eyes and a somewhat bewildered look. I realized what had happened, but did not know what to say or do. In a barely rasped whisper, she said "It just went down the wrong way." I was between embarrassed for her and trying so hard not to laugh. I often wonder if she ever knew that I knew what really had happened.