popular thinking

DID YOU GET YOUR FREE SLURPEE? Alas, I did not. But today was July 11, or 7/11, and so it was that the convience store giant decided today was the most appropriate day to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Slurpee. Never you mind that 7-Eleven didn't even come up with the name Slurpee until 1967, or that the patent inventor first started serving slushy drinks in 1959. No, no. Don't let facts get in the way of a good promotion.

Herewith, an appreciation in today's Boston Herald: The big chill - Ice-cold Slurpees a hot ticket in summertime

Imagine a world without Slurpees.
What, you don't drink Slurpees?
Alrighty then - imagine a world without Coolattas, Frappuccinos, ICEEs, Liquid Ice or Slush Puppies. Think about that as summer temperatures and humidity return to oppressive levels, and when you do, think about thanking a Kansan named Omar Knedlik.
When Knedlik, a Dairy Queen franchisee in Coffeyville, Kan., lost use of his soda fountain in the late 1950s (reports differ on whether the fountain was broken or didn't exist), he started serving soft drinks from his freezer. Turns out his customers enjoyed the slushy sodas, and after a few years of tinkering, Knedlik patented a machine that could produce frozen carbonated beverages on demand.
Here, the story takes a turn, depending upon whether you want to believe the ICEE Corp., 7-Eleven or a host of other brain-frozen fans on the Internet.
But most stories agree that Knedlik's machines caught on with both ICEE and 7-Eleven in 1965.
Forty years later, the frozen concoctions are sold everywhere, from the local movie theater to Target, Wal-Mart, Burger King and just about every convenience store on Earth - and they've inspired other companies, such as Dunkin' Donuts and Starbucks, to adapt the technology to coffee and fruit-based beverages.
In Houston, Roger Clemens hawks his own brand of ICEE, the Rocket Fuel Energy Drink, available in red-cherry and pineapple-orange flavors across Texas, Colorado, Arizona and parts of California through gas stations and convenience stores.
The most Slurpees, ICEEs and other frozen carbonated drinks are sold during the heat of July.
But here's a surprise: Winnipeg, not far from the frozen tundras of northern Canada, seems to love Slurpees more than anyone else.
7-Eleven, which sells more than 11 million Slurpees each month, is celebrating the frozen soda's 40th anniversary as only a convenience store giant could, with free Slurpees today at participating stores.
So slurp it up - but go slowly. Frozen drinks are chilled to 26-28 degrees Fahrenheit. When you send too much to the back of your soft palate too quickly, you overload the sensory circuits to your brain, causing that immediate stinging sensation known as brain freeze.