First Law of Iced Drinks

It's happened to everyone. Or, at least, it should have. If it hasn't happened to you, perhaps you are merely protected from this torture by your ignorance of its occurrence, and what I'm getting ready to say will begin your introduction to the horrible experience of ice explosion. But for the sake of my ranting, let's assume it has never happened to you.

It's happened to me too many times to count. I innocently put some ice in my glass, and then pour my chosen beverage. For most of the drink, I blissfully enjoy the refreshing coldness provided by the ice. But then... my drink is almost gone. The ice is packed into one interesting ice formation at the bottom of my glass, and there's one more swallow of liquid left. I tilt the glass slowly, because I'm expecting the ice mass to slide down and hit my lip while I drain the last drops of juice, but instead the ice structure collapses, and that suddenly plentiful last collection of probably red or purple juice sloshes onto my face and streams onto my clean shirt.

It has the effect of making one feel that perhaps one should not have yet graduated from sippy cups, but I determined that it's just the the First Law of Iced Drinks: Ice Will Clump Together and Then Collapse at the Most Inopportune Moment to Cause You as Much Inconvenience and Embarrassment as Possible.

I was further intrigued by my recent scientific discovery when I asked my dad if he'd ever encountered this dangerous phenomenon. He replied that it used to happen to him when he was a teenager. My mind raced. So maybe it was true! Some kind of horrible degeneration of drinking abilities that would suggest that perhaps teenagers should revert to sippy cups! Then Daddy grinned and announced that he'd quickly learned to shake his glass before drinking the last bit.

If it's possible, I felt even more miserable than when I was contemplating myself using sippy cups. Why had I not realized how simple a fix there was? If you never allow your ice to clump into interesting formations then it can't collapse. Apparently I am quite useless at thwarting petty annoyances.

Now I know... but what else am I missing??

~Lizzie