There are a few things I really look forward to over the course of the year. This includes standing at the top of the slopes with the feet strapped into the Burton, lining up at the start of the Bix7 race and setting up for the annual Halloween cookout (oh, in case she is reading this, coming home every day to see Linda). Not to be left out, ripping into the first box of frozen Girl Scout Thin Mints is ranked right up there in the top ten. Unfortunately, it is getting harder and harder to actually order boxes. The daughters of my friends are now either to old for selling cookies or on the other end of the age spectrum. This year a friend of mine let me order from his relative and my Sister-in-Law was able to put in n order for me with one of her contacts from the school she teaches at. Once the orders came I rushed home and cleared space in the freezer and patiently waited for those babies to chill. Now I have to ask, is there really any form of food that tastes better than a frozen Thin Mint? (any answer other than NO is an unacceptable response by the way)
So, after a couple of hours, the time had arrived. Freezer door opened with haste, the green box grabbed with zeal and seconds later I had ripped through the packaging to get to the goods. Suddenly, the frantic pace came to a halting screech. Have you opened a chip bag lately and been disappointed in the amount of empty space inside the packaging? Regardless of whether the vendor feels guilty enough to add the “Some settling may occur” marketing line to the packaging, you feel a little empty inside, an emptiness originating out of a overwhelming feeling you’ve been taken. Actually, I think the better word is d-e-c-e-i-v-e-d. To my surprise, this is the exact same feeling I got while staring at the inner packaging … apparently some settling had occurred. This picture below doesn’t provide the best angle for comparison, but you can tell there is a definite difference between the height of the box and the interior sleeve of thin mints. Due to the fact these cookies are like crack, I had consumed a majority of the package before realizing I forgot to assess the difference in cookie units between the inner packaging and the extra space in the box. Post estimate has this at about 4-5 cookies x2 for the two sleeves and you are looking at 8-10 cookies that won’t be pleasing the taste buds.
However, there is more to this devious story. My friend’s order was fulfilled by a Chicago area scout troop. In line with how politics goes in this state, the “down-staters” once again take it on chin. Cookies in the Chicago area are sold at a cost of $4.00 per box. Contrast that with the local scout troop charge of $3.50 per box. My Sister-in-Law’s order came in this week allowing me to verify that the local cookie boxes also had less than a full cookie box sleeve. This means both investments fell short of expectations, but the empty space in the first box cost my $.50 more. I wonder if they get a merit badge with a giant screw on it if they sell a certain number of boxes.
Okay, before someone gets all worked up, this post was somewhat in jest. I realize it is a fund raiser for a good cause and I not at all concerned about the monetary difference between the various troop regions. Actually, I congratulate them for embracing supply and demand principles and charging what the market can bear. They might want to consider hanging out on streets and passing out a free frozen thin mint to people who pass by – guaranteed people would be back drooling with money in hand looking for the next hit.. I mean bite. I did get the empty feeling in my stomach when I saw the dead space in the packaging. After all, per Wikipedia, the Girl Scout code consists of “I will do my best to be honest and fair”.
Before I leave this post, I wanted to mention something my brother brought to my attention. During one of our calls, he mentioned that McDonald’s had their Shamrock Shakes available again. Don’t ask me how we ended up on this topic, but he confessed when he orders these shakes he has them add in the crushed Oreo topping used in their McFlurries. The resultant concoction tastes like a Thin Mint shake. Intrigued, Linda and I ordered one while traveling to a dog show in Wisconsin. After 15 minutes of trying to explain what I wanted to the cashier, her calling over the manager, both exchanging looks of utter contempt and a hundred buttons being pushed on the register they finally produced the augmented shake (note, based on the amount I had to pay for this sucker, I think they ended up charging for the shake and a small cone). I grabbed the shake and headed back to the car taking special effort not to look back for any mocking that might have been going on.
Safely in our car, Linda and I dug into the experiment. Survey says… Not Bad! I am not entirely sure it was worth the trouble to order, but it definitely tasted like a Thin Mint shake. Kudos to my brother for discovering this. On second thought, we probably should not be that surprised since his repeat business has basically earned him an honorary degree from the McDonald’s Academy!
Later peeps, I’m heading down for some tasty frozen slices straight from heaven.
Since I pulled out the bad service post this month I figured it would be a good time to produce a bad product post. In truth, I have seen a great product trump a bad service experience, but I have never witnessed a great service making up for a crap product. Case in point is a situation I experienced with a gift Linda gave me for Christmas (yeh, I know it has been awhile, but to say that I have too many irons in the fire at the moment is an understatement to the size of the fire). To set the stage, the viewing quality of a movie or TV show really doesn’t rate high on my viewing experience. Analog was just fine with me for what little TV I actually watched since it is more of a background noise device than a center of attention. Trust me, baseball is just as exciting when you can’t see every pimple on the batters face. What really comes out of this type of viewing experience is how good the plot is (or the talent of the players based on your viewing pleasure). As a result, the old 14 inch Magnavox Analog TV had been a fixture in my den for years. I’d turn it on as white noise whenever I was on the computer and from time to time catch a show while writing posts etc. Hit the power button, turn it to channel 14 or 3 (more on this later) and with the reliability of Biden saying something stupid every time he opens his mouth, I was watching a show .. out of my peripherals of course, but it was on and playing without any hassles. Linda decided it was time to enter the current decade so took it upon herself to purchase a new LED TV as a present. I have to admit, the flat panel had a nice benefit of freeing up some space on my shelf top, but the hassles this brought were totally unexpected.
