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A viral iced-coffee debate reveals some surprisingly useful rules for making a better first impression

• A recruiter recently sparked a viral debate: A recent TikTok video warned job candidates that walking into an interview carrying an iced coffee can make the meeting appear too casual.

• Hiring experts are divided: Some say it's a needless distraction, while others say employers shouldn't judge candidates based on what's in their cup.

• The safest strategy isn't complicated: Finish your coffee before walking in, keep your hands free, and eliminate anything that could distract from the conversation.

You researched the company. Practiced your answers. Picked out what you're going to wear.

But could the iced coffee you grabbed on the way to the interview actually hurt your chances of getting the job?

While this may seem obvious for older generations, apparently, its now up for debate with Gen Z.

Recruiter Caitlin Wehniainen recently sparked an online argument after advising job seekers, particularly Gen Z applicants, not to walk into interviews carrying an iced coffee.

Her reasoning wasn't really about caffeine. She argued that arriving with a drink can make the interview look like just another stop between errands rather than an important professional meeting.

That might sound ridiculously picky to some. And plenty of hiring experts think it is.

But if you're trying to land a job, its worth asking yourself, Why give an interviewer something irrelevant to judge you on?

Here are five easy ways to avoid doing exactly that.

1. Finish the coffee before you walk in

You don't need to give up your morning caffeine. Just finish it in the car, lobby, or outside.

Megan Slabinski, a district president at staffing company Robert Half, told Fortune that an iced coffee probably won't make or break an interview, but she wouldn't recommend bringing one into the room. Drinks can be distracting, messy, and leave you juggling something when you're trying to introduce yourself.

The easy rule is to walk into the interview with no drink, your phone put away, and your hands free.

If the interviewer offers you coffee or water once you're inside, that's different. Feel free to accept the drink at that point.

2. Don't obsess over the coffee think about distractions

This is probably the more useful lesson. An interviewer may not care whatsoever about your Starbucks cup.

But a buzzing phone, jangling keys, giant tote bag, sunglasses on your head, or breakfast sandwich you're still finishing can all compete for attention.

You want the interviewer remembering what you said, not what you carried into the room.

Indeed's interview guidance similarly recommends paying attention to your behavior and body language from the moment you enter the building, not just once the formal interview begins.

3. Treat the lobby as part of the interview

Your interview doesn't necessarily start when somebody asks, Tell me about yourself. It may start when you walk through the front door.

Indeed notes that receptionists, security personnel, and other employees you encounter may be asked for feedback about you. So be polite to the receptionist. Don't complain about parking. Don't take a loud phone call in the lobby. And don't spend 10 minutes scrolling TikTok while waiting for your interviewer.

Assume you're being interviewed from the moment you arrive.

4. When you don't know the company's culture, play it safe

This is where the iced-coffee argument gets interesting.

Some workplaces couldn't care less, while at another company, the person interviewing you may consider it unprofessional.

And you usually don't know which interviewer you're getting. That's why when you're unsure how casual a workplace is, show up one notch more polished than you think is necessary.

That doesn't mean wearing a suit to interview at a surf shop. It means removing the little variables that don't help you get hired.

5. Spend your energy on what actually matters

Don't walk away from this thinking employers are secretly keeping an iced-coffee blacklist.

They're not.

Several hiring experts interviewed by Fortune pushed back on the whole debate. Trent Cotton, head of talent insights at recruiting software company iCIMS, argued that a cup of coffee says essentially nothing about whether someone can do the job.

And that's worth remembering.

Your preparation, communication, experience, and the questions you ask are far more important than what's in your cup. Indeed recommends researching the employer, reviewing the job description, practicing likely questions, and preparing thoughtful questions of your own before the interview.

But job interviews are also short, imperfect human interactions where first impressions matter. So drink the coffee, but just finish it before you walk through the door.

New research finds drinking water costs are increasing faster than many other essentials

By Mark Huffman of ConsumerAffairs

• Household drinking water bills rose an average of 62% from 2015 to 2025 among utilities studied by Food & Water Watch, outpacing inflation and grocery prices.

• Privately-owned water systems charged households 67% more than public systems on average in 2025, according to the report.

• Low-income households faced unaffordable water costs in 93% of the systems analyzed, based on the groups affordability threshold.

Consumers watching their grocery and electricity bills climb have another unlikely expense squeezing their budgets: water.

A report released by Food & Water Watch, an environmental advocacy organization, found that household drinking water bills increased at 1.6 times the overall inflation rate and more than twice the rate of grocery prices over the past decade.

A water affordability crisis is rapidly expanding throughout America, said Mary Grant, the organizations water policy director. Grant attributed rising bills to corporate ownership and insufficient federal investment in aging infrastructure.

The analysis examined the nations 500 largest community water systems, serving approximately 155 million people. Researchers calculated annual bills for a household using 60,000 gallons, allowing comparisons at a consistent consumption level.

Average charges

The average system charged $531 in 2025, or about $44 a month. Those figures exclude wastewater and stormwater charges, which can substantially increase a households total utility bill.

Costs varied sharply. Annual bills ranged from $133 at a public system in Hempstead, New York, to $1,416 at San Jose Water Company in California.

For-profit systems charged an average of $823 annually, compared with $494 at publicly-owned systems. Food & Water Watch advocates public ownership; the comparison describes average charges across different systems and does not isolate ownership from every other factor affecting costs.

The burden was particularly pronounced for poorer households. Researchers classified drinking water bills exceeding 1.5% of income for the poorest fifth of households in each state as unaffordable. By that measure, nearly all surveyed systems exceeded the threshold.

Declining access

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) separately estimated in its 2024 affordability assessment that between 12.1 million and 19.2 million U.S. households lacked affordable access to water services. The agency says affordability means paying essential water bills without sacrificing other household needs.

Further increases may lie ahead. The American Water Works Association estimates that drinking water infrastructure and other critical needs will require $2.1 trillion to $2.4 trillion through 2050. Its assessment identifies aging equipment, treatment requirements, climate resilience, and cybersecurity as mounting expenses.

The association warns that relying entirely on household bills to close the infrastructure funding gap could more than double average drinking water bills by 2050, even after accounting for inflation.

Consumers struggling to pay should contact their utility about available customer assistance programs. The EPA identifies such programs as one approach to reducing the burden. However, the temporary federal Low Income Household Water Assistance Program has exhausted its funding and is no longer providing benefits.

Malwarebytes warns that an apparent case of impersonation may be bait to start a conversation

By Mark Huffman of ConsumerAffairs

• Malwarebytes warns that scammers are sending fake Facebook Marketplace listings bearing recipients names to lure them into responding.

• Even a reply correcting the supposed mistake can confirm that a phone number is active.

• Consumers should check Facebook directly and avoid engaging with unexpected messages.

An unexpected message asking about something you supposedly listed on Facebook Marketplace could be a scam designed to get your attentionand a response.

In an October 6 blog post, Malwarebytes researcher Pieter Arntz described messages containing fabricated Marketplace listings that identify the recipient as the seller. One example arrived via iMessage, asking whether an item was still available. The listing used the recipients name but a photo of another Facebook user with the same name.

The apparent impersonation creates an incentive to correct the sender. Arntz suggests attackers could use names and phone numbers obtained through data breaches, although the source of the information and the campaigns ultimate objective remain unconfirmed.

A reply can have consequences even when it contains no sensitive information. The Federal Trade Commission warns that answering an unfamiliar sender confirms a working telephone number, potentially inviting additional scam calls and texts.

Avoid conversations with strangers

The FTC has also described conversation-starting in which strangers build trust before pitching fraudulent cryptocurrency investments. That is a broader warning about unsolicited texts, rather than an established outcome of this Marketplace scheme.

Consumers concerned about their Facebook accounts should open Facebook independently to review listings, logins and account settings. Malwarebytes advises reporting genuine impersonation profiles and withholding verification codes.

For unexpected texts, the FTC recommends avoiding replies and links, reporting the message through the phones junk-reporting feature or forwarding it to 7726, and deleting it. Consumers who lose money to a scam can report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.