Saturday, December 27, 2008

all potato chips are not created equal

so today . . . was a travel day. we are on our way home to what we hope will be dry and sunny southern california from the currently snowy and wet oregon. after being on the road for a few hours we stopped for gas. now, when we are traveling by car, we don't just stop for gas--we stop for gas and bathrooms and food. that way we don't have to make intermediate stops, and we get to our destination sooner! but this means that sometimes we have to get food AT the gas station/mini-mart/bathroom which kind of limits our choices. since our stop was between lunch and dinner, i chose diet coke and BBQ lays potato chips. as i was eating my chips, i noticed that i was not eating them in a random way--i was looking in the bag and CHOOSING which chip to eat next. and i realized that all the chips in the bag are not created equal. there are three different kinds of chips. the worst ones are the ones that are all folded up. you know the ones i mean. there is no way to eat them without spilling crumbs on yourself, unless you just stick the whole thing into your mouth at once. i hate it when i put my hand in the potato chip bag and that is the kind of potato chip that comes out, because decisions must be made on how to eat it! then there are the large wavy chips. these are not so bad if they have a lot of flavoring on them, but many times they just have mostly salt. i don't know why this is. i mean all the chips ostensibly go through the same process, so why do some have lots of flavoring spices and some have mostly salt? the other problem with the large wavy chips is that they are too big to put in your mouth all at once. and lots of times they have air bubbles in them (and how exactly does a potato chip get an air bubble?!?) so when you bite into them, they crumble all over you! and that brings me to the last kind of chip--the very best kind of chip. this is the small, round, flat chip that is COVERED in seasoning! you know when you pull this chip out of the bag that you are in for a treat. you can pop them into your mouth easily and the taste is perfect, no matter what flavor you have chosen. if frito lay could figure out a way to make every chip the small round perfect kind, i am sure their stock would soar!!

interestingly enough, i find that this is not an issue with doritos. every corn chip is pretty much the same.

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