TVSquad

When I was a kid, maybe around 10 or 11 years old, a friend and I brought some "near beer" with us during a trip to the Museum of Science in Boston. We were so proud of that feat, even if the drink itself was rather lame.

I thought of that after watching this video clip (after the jump) from Kid Nation, which premiere's tonight at 8 on CBS. I don't know if this is from tonight's episode or a later one, but it shows the kids all gathering at the town saloon and sucking down drinks after a hard week's work. Now, I'm assuming that it's just soda and not alcohol they happened to find in the town, but let me ask all of the kids who are reading this: is it cool nowadays to gulp down down soda like this and pretend you're "getting drunk?" Eleven year-olds getting sloshed and learning how to hang out at some cheap bar - it's so adorable! It's like Charles Bukowski - The Early Years.

And for the record, when I was a kid, we called it "tonic," not soda.