How to Save Your Heroine with a Can of Coke: Info for Writers (and Other Human Beings)

t (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Did your heroine find herself in a bind? 

Let's show the readers what she's really made of. She doesn't shriek and pull out her hair. She simply looks around her environment and thinks outside of the box er can. Let's get her out of that bad situation. . .

The Coke Itself -

Twenty ways that citric acid and phosphoric acid can be your heroine's friend.

1. Drinking
2. De-frosting - In a pinch, your heroine can pour a can of Coke on her frozen windshield to get her out of her desperate situation faster.
3. De-skunkifying (water, soap, Coke, a few minutes of soaking)
4. It also removes the smell of gasoline - in case that would give her antics away.
5. De-sting-afyer - it works on bee stings, jelly fish, bug bites... just let soak for a few minutes.
6. Helps with nausea
7. The caffeine can keep your heroine awake - or give her a boost of energy when she needs to push through a long night.
8. Caffeine + pain reliever helps migraines and menstrual cramps.
9. Can bring up someone's blood sugar if they are diabetic or just spent after running away from the zombies.
10. Color fader - Does your heroine need to change her look fast? Let's say she dyed her hair dark brown to change her appearance. Now with a can of Coke she can fade that color and look completely different.
11. If your heroine permed her hair too tight, she can pour on a can of flat coke, and it will loosen the curl.
12. And while we're on the subject of hair - it can get the gum out. (And from other unwanted places as well.)
13. Removes rust - if your heroine has to get that lug nut off to save her life (but she better have a little time to let things soak.) 
14. Getting a charge - so this works on batteries,too. If the battery connection isn't good because of corrosion, and your heroine is imperiled, she can use the coke to clean it up enough to get herself on the road to civilization.
15. Did your heroine spill oil on anything from her clothes to the crime scene? Coke will get it out.
16. It can also get bloodstains out of clothes when mixed with detergent -- but we all know you can't really get rid of blood. Even if it looks stain free, it will show up under forensic inspection.
17. Burned pans or utensils? Coke.
18. Your heroine needs to read the date off of a dirty coin? Coke.
19. Is your villain afraid the forensic team will collect bugs off his car to determine where he might have left the body? He can remove them with Coke. Did I just help a villain? Eek.
20. And as long as we're talking about villains, Coke dissolves teeth.

Here are some more - Quick Study Video

The Can the Coke came in -

Remember - in life or death situations the four things required are:

• Water 
• Fire
• Shelter 
• Food

Water -

• collection
• cup
• Fill with water and place near a fire to heat to boiling to remove bacteria and viruses

Fire - 

• How to start a fire with an aluminum can Quick Study Video 3:30 - I've tried this - not everyone has char cloth on them, but in a pinch other flammable things worked. Time, patience, and bright sun are your heroine's friends. Cloudy day or too late in the day? Mrph.
• Make a lamp using used motor oil. Video Quick Study 1:24 BTW if you don't have steel wool - cause who has that in their car? You can just tightly twist some paper and then rub the oil on to the paper and stick it in the pop top the same way.
• Increase your light source - Video Quick Study 1:46

Shelter - The only way I could think that a can of Coke could provide shelter was to signal for help to get the heck out of the situation in the first place.

• How to make an emergency whistle with a can Quick Study Video 5:50 -I have tried this and it works very well it is a high-pitched marine whistle like sound.
• How to boost your wifi signal - Quick Study Video 1;10
• Polish the bottom with a little chocolate (It's an EMERGENCY! sacrifices must be made.) or some clay and use like a signaling mirror. 

Food - 

• Fishing rod - Video Quick Study 2:52
• Make the hook with pop top Video Quick Study 4:09
• Use as a pan for cooking
• Trap
• arrowhead
• Spearhead
• spoon
• spatula
• cutting tool

Other useful can skills:

• Pick a padlock - Video Quick Study 2:05

I tried this - and tried it - and tried it - and tried it. A case of soda later. . .

This is not something to do on the fly. AND the Crazy Russian Hacker is showing you how to do this on a padlock that is not closing anything. Let's just say this is for the character who has trained hard. Your heroine who has some Girl Scouting skills under her belt would have a hard time of this - not to say she shouldn't try. Getting hopes up just to dash them can be an interesting thing to do in a plot.

• Make a clone key - Video Quick Study

Your heroine is left in the office with the keys that she needs to get into the file cabinet? Have her chug that coke and make a quick clone key. When I tried this the key worked once. Does your heroine need to use it repeatedly? She can now take her clone key to a hardware pick out the base, go home and clamp the clone to the base key, use a Dremel to make herself a spare.

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