|
Originally published in
the Grand Rapids Business Journal, November 29, 2004.
Who likes eggnog? I do. Or at least I think
I do. It's one of those candy corn type of things. You know
-- the first few are absolutely delicious; the next few are
only pretty good; the next few are kind of sickening; and if
you're stupid enough to go for the next few you risk projectile
vomiting. That's why I think candy corn and eggnog are seasonal.
You need 10 or 11 months to lose the memory of hurling your
stomach contents across the living room.
We bought some eggnog this year because our kids had never
tried it, and all three of them pretty much hated it on first
taste. I thought that was kind of odd. I mean it's all creamy
and sugary. You'd expect that there would be at least some
initial appeal. And while pondering this I caught site of the
big bowl of leftover Halloween candy in our kitchen and, well,
there's the answer.
Kids today get a steady dosage of sugar and fat in all sorts
of treats. Their palettes simply don't need to put up with
eggnog's odd/spicy flavor when they can have chocolate milk
for lunch everyday if they'd like. When I was a kid, my brother,
sister, I looked forward to eggnog. We were obviously willing
to tolerate anything short of paint-thinner-nog to get that
rare sugar fix. My kids only have to wait a short interval
till the next sweet snack shows up.
But let's not put this all on the kids -- we are all so very
indulged. Think about it. In a mile radius of my home, I'm
sure I could find at least a dozen gas stations, party stores,
restaurants more than willing to sell me a candy bar. If you
want something, you can have it. And even if you don't know
you want it, there's a checkout counter display that will tell
you, at 3 for $1.29, you'd be a fool not to have it. So it's
not hard to believe that in Michigan the number of obese people
has increased by 80% since 1990.
Now if you'll excuse me, there's still a few packs of chewy
Sprees left in the Halloween bowl and having finished this
letter I think I deserve a treat....
|
