Halfway through the work day, and my thoughts had turned to Suicide.

No, nothing that drastic – I’m talking about going extreme at the self-serve soda fountain. Remember that? I do. My first was with a friend at Chuck E. Cheese. Drunk on the ultimate power of being allowed to fill my own glass, I claimed a short bubbly burst of everything the dispenser had to offer, from cola and root beer to lemonade and Mountain Dew. It tasted like everything good in the world – a little caramel, a little citrus, mostly sugar – and it was pure unbridled little kid bliss.

I’d love to say my tastes have matured since then, but that would be a total lie. I may not go all out these days, but throw me in front of a self-serve soda fountain and it’s half-Dr. Pepper, half-Coke all the way (cherry if you’ve got it, but you usually don’t). Why settle for just one flavor when you can have so much more?

Perhaps this is why I found myself driving almost five miles away on my lunch break, in search of a Suicide aficionado’s wildest dream – Coca-Cola Freestyle.

“We have created a concept that is quickly becoming recognized as the soda fountain of the future – the way people will experience Coca-Cola beverages years from now,” said Coca-Cola Freestyle VP Gene Farrell of the machine. That sounds a little major, but the Freestyle is definitely futuristic.

Gone are the eight dispensers and the sticker labels. In their place: a single spout and a touchscreen with over a hundred different options. Each Freestyle soda fountain is outfitted with an array of flavor cartridges, some with a multitude of flavor enhancers like vanilla, orange, and strawberry for extra kick, that mix into the carbonation with every order. Diet soda drinkers are given tons of options beyond the one token Diet Coke, and there are flavors on the roster that have never before seen the light of day. Pretty exciting.

So apparently Coca-Cola Freestyle machines have been surreptitiously appearing in test markets all over the country for over a year now. It seems that San Diego’s own Jack in the Box, daring pioneer of new frontiers from ciabatta buns to upscale fast food, was the first fast food joint to take the new machines on. How could I not have known? Once I found out what I was missing, it was mandatory to find the nearest machine and have at it. 

The Jack in the Box was nearly empty when I got there. I’d been psyching myself out the whole way up the 5. What if it was hard to use? What if I wasn’t allowed to refill if I didn’t like my choice? What if it wasn’t there at all? But no – there it was, just to the right of the condiment kiosk, in all of its glowing touchscreen glory. A rushed order and a credit card swipe later, I approached it with the same wide-eyed reverence I’d approached that first soda fountain all those years ago.

I wish I could say that using the machine was as exciting as the anticipation – at the end of the day, it’s still a soda fountain. It was certainly easy to use – click your choice of soda flavor on the touch screen, and hit the big lit-up POUR button for a second or until you’re blue in the face, rinse and repeat for further flavors – and the selection was pretty awe-inspiring.  It isn’t quite perfect yet, and I’m bummed to read that there are no plans to add natural cane sugar options any time soon (everyone knows Mexican Coke with real sugar is the king of Coca-Cola products), but so far the pros are definitely outweighing the cons.

So here I am, at the end of the day – at my desk, watching the sunset and sipping a magical soft drink concoction that’s half Raspberry Coke Zero and half Dr. Pepper.  Raspberry. It’s a small joy, sure. But it’s all mine. Just for this moment, all is right with the world.