What we did for PopTarts™

Milk, powdered sugar, chicken, broccoli...tick, tick, tick. I really hate going to the grocery store on a Sunday, it’s over-crowded, for some reason, but as long as I’m there, I make the most of it. Over the weekend our fridge and pantry began to resemble that of old Mother Hubbard, so we had quite the list of supplies to pick up. 

As I came around the baking aisle corner towards the dairy, Todd met me at the end-cap. 

“I’m getting these,” he said. Todd’s not usually one to make declarations so he got my attention. I assumed he meant something he'd already put in the cart, but then he reached onto the end-cap shelf and took down exactly one box of eight-count cookies and cream PopTarts™. 

I was shocked! Like I literally gasped out loud. Real, American PopTarts™, in a South African Spar? You’re kidding me. The boxes had little American flags or the olympic rings with “USA” printed above them, claiming that they really were genuine, imported booty. There were four or five kinds on the shelf, two of which were of the unfrosted variety (criminal), and the others were the highly sugarized, cookie-and-candy type.

Just as startling as happening upon a box of PopTarts™ in Africa is noticing the price tag on them: 61.99 Rand, which in dollars comes to about $6.20; I saw why Todd had been so emphatic. “I’m getting these” is probably the best way to convince yourself and others that you don’t care what the price is, the product is totally worth it, though perhaps only this once :) Would I have ever paid over $6 for eight PopTarts™ back home? Goodness, I hope not. They’re not $6 there, are they? If they are, y’all need to switch to the Wal-Mart brand and just keep telling yourself that a PopTart™ by any other name is just a toaster pastry. 

But for me, it’s nice to open my cupboard and see that familiar box beaming back like a dear childhood friend. Extravagant, you say? Yes, probably...but my electric bill is only $30 a month and I live without central heating. Junk food lover! you accuse? Oh, definitely. But I had an apple and some lovely rooibos tea for breakfast this morning, so at least I proved that I can exhibit some self control. Crazy, you say, in a last attempt to make me feel guilty for our indulgence? Granted. 

Is that all you’ve got? Well, you keep thinking about it while Todd and I split another fine American delicacy.