The Times Have Certainly Changed

[Mr.DJ]

The Times Have Certainly Changed

Well, last night, my wife brought me home two boxes of my favorite Girl Scout cookies (Peanut Butter Sandwich) which she purchased through one of her fellow co-workers/associates...or whatever the politically correct term is nowadays.

So, this morning, I brewed-up a cup of coffee in our new KEURIG coffeemaker. Okay, I guess brewed-up is really not an honest term, since all I had to do, after making sure that the side container was filled with water, was to insert a K-cup of whatever brand, strength, type, and flavor of coffee currently available in our arsenal, lower the locking handle in place, and then depress the machine's glowing green button. A few seconds later...voila, one fresh cup of coffee. So much for those days when I had to grind my own coffee beans, correctly measure, and place the fresh ground coffee into my 'golden basket' (an upgrade from the paper filter).

Okay, for those of you not really familiar with the K-cup, just think of those little white individual plastic creamers which the waitress (or is it 'server' nowadays) places on your table alongside their version of coffee at your local diner. By the way, a cup of coffee now costs a few bucks…if you hadn't recently checked the menu or your diner bill. Sure, their re-fills are free, but usually after tasting a cup (of what they advertise as coffee), I usually pass on their 'free refill' offer...sounds like a 'racket' to me. [Back on Topic] Now, do you recall that clear plastic cup which comes inside the box along with a bottle of liquid cough medicine? Well, a K-cup looks like the creamer thingy, but a just little smaller than that medicine cup, or a shot glass for those of you who might prefer a different type of medicine.

At $9 for a box of 25 of these K-cups, it figures-out to about .36 per cup of coffee...somewhat closer to what one used to pay in the 'old days', after they phased-out the .10 and subsequent .25 cup of coffee. Unfortunately, this coffeemaker cost about ten times more than those low-end Mr.Coffee-type makers, so I'll be drinking a lot of coffee before I begin to 'break even'.

Now back to the cookies. So, after the coffee was brewed...err, made, I retrieved one of the boxes of Girl Scout cookies from the bag in which it came. To my astonishment, I noticed that this box appeared to be somewhat smaller than last year's version. Well, after opening the box to retrieve my cherished treasures, it finally donned on me why the box was so much smaller...'cause, the cookies are too! I'm sure they probably still taste the same, but it was rather hard to tell, since these cookies are now about the size of a quarter.

As a true cookie connoisseur, I've come to love these Peanut Butter Sandwich cookies which have reminded me so much of my all-time favorite Gauchos (made by *Burry's Cookies) of days gone by. Now, I do still periodically purchase a bag or two of Nutter Butter, but I've still retained my affinity for the Girl Scout version all these years. What probably bothers me most is the fact that like everything else, it appears that Girl Scout cookies also had to 'keep-up with the times'...so-to-speak. What was formerly a decent size cookie (about the size of a silver dollar and costing around a dollar per box) has now become something about the size of a quarter, yet costs around three bucks per box...obviously disappointing, yet somewhat expect. The times have certainly changed!

* The now defunct Burry's Cookies of NJ (Gauchos, Mr.Chips, Lickity Splits, Tic Tac Toe, Fudgetown, Burryland Stars, etc.) actually used to bake many of the cookies for the Girl Scout organization, and those cookies were, in my shared opinion, much better (and larger) back then.
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Source: Selected Works
by Mr.DJ
Sunday, March 05, 2006

[bruno]

Mr. DJ,

I suppose great things still come in small(er) packages. I don't know a thing about your new fandangled coffee maker but what I do know is my addiction to the Girl Scouts' Thin Mint cookies! I could easily devour the whole box while enjoying my favorite brew of custom coffee a blend of vanilla, nuts, and tropical fruits!

bruno

[GoofyTimL]

I am known as the Samoa King! Around here you don't ask if I want any GSC's... the proper question is HOW MANY!