Smile-breaks
The Great Cereal Hunt
I was eating my cereal. Crunchety-crunch-crunch. Wait. Raisin bran isn't usually crunchy. Not this crunchy. Not crunch crunch crunch crunchy. It usually gets a bit soggy after a few bites. Still good, but soggy. So I checked the box to see if I'd bought the right kind. I hadn't. What I got was Kellogg's Raisin Bran CRUNCH (the caps are mine).
I should have known—you can't just buy cereal. If you want the same ol' cereal you love to eat, you have to hunt it down. Last time I got Cheerios they didn't taste the same but at least I knew why. I had to get gluten free Cheerios because there wasn't a single box without a big Gluten Free emblem on the front.
News Flash! I can't believe my eyes! You can buy used Cheerios at Amazon! I just Googled Cheerios to see if you can get Cheerios with gluten and I ended up at Amazon where below the price it says "13 new and used." What? I know you can buy a lot of stuff used on Amazon—but cereal? What does that even mean? Used? TMI.
I always do my research in a thorough manner so I have to tell you that in checking further it turns out when you click on "13 new and used," it lists "13 new" boxes—no used. Whew! I was getting worried about the state of our cereals. Note: Apparently Amazon discovered its error after I wrote this because the "used" tag has disappeared. Glad they listen to me! ???
Apologies for the diversion. Back to The Great Cereal Hunt. A few days after crunching my way through my Raisin Bran Crunch, I went on the hunt for un-crunchy Raisin Bran. At Ralphs I approached the cereal aisle with great hope—and sharp eyes. You know how many varieties of cereals occupy that aisle—every kind you could never imagine! Finding regular Rice Krispies or Raisin Bran or even Frosted Flakes is a challenge and then, when you find it, it's sold out—except for that lone humongous economy box that wouldn't fit in your cupboard unless you set it down on its side and besides that, much as you love Raisin Bran, it's enough to feed a family of thirteen—of which there aren't many these days and more to the point, yours isn't one of them.
If you go on The Great Cereal Hunt, you'll walk slowly down the aisle, dodging fast-wheeling grocery carts as you scan upper shelves, middle shelves and finally, in desperation, you scooch down to search the lowest shelves—a whole inch off the floor—trying to find that one cereal that satisfies your morning breakfast cravings among the hundreds of boxes of cereals with all sorts of ingredients added—dried apples, marshmallows, Oreo cookies—Oreo cookies? in cereal???
It's not that I'm old fashioned; it's just that I prefer my Oreos without cereal interference. And I'd rather have them later in the day—not for breakfast. As for dried apples, take my word for it—or don't—apples are juicy and sweet, or tart, to bite into when they're whole, with a core and cheery red skin, not dried up and buried in cereal.
I'm sure you have your own breakfast preferences and if they include cereal of a certain type—well, good luck finding it. And next time you're strolling down the cereal aisle of your favorite store, take heart, you're not alone in The Great Cereal Hunt.
