Orange You Glad You Didn't Snicker?

"I've met someone new, Snickers;
Someone I've grown to love..."

I've loved Snickers all my life.

Well, actually, I love the memory of my first Snickers bar: so chocolatey, with the sweet caramel and the nutty underlaying taste. I must have gotten one on Halloween, so long ago, and it totally pegged the DelightMeter.
But lately, Snickers has seemed kind of ordinary. I'll see Snickers, and feel a mild desire, but when I'm done, it's just not the same. The delight is not in the Snickers, but in the feelings we had when we were first together.
Intellectually, I know Snickers is bad for me. She's a bit pricey, and empty in the nutrition department, and always shows up wrapped in a bit of garbage that I can't even compost.

I wanted to blame her progenitors for raising her wrong. I thought that probably the Mars Company must be using cheaper chocolate, cutting corners on the peanuts, something that has interfered with our relationship!
But no, that was just fooling myself. I've talked it over with Snickers.

"It's not your fault, Snickers. You haven't changed. It's me.
I'm not a child anymore, enjoying my first insanely good mix of chocolate, sugar and salty, oily protein. I've grown, while you've stayed yourself.

I think we need to spend a little time apart.

Please don't cry!

Ok, I owe you some honesty. I've found someone else. It's Oranges."

I've known Oranges since preschool, but I never appreciated her. Back then, she was chubby and tasteless, and even a little bit embarassing. My mom always put an orange in the toe of our Christmas stockings, and we never understood why. We would dutifully roll them out and stack them with the pile of other gifts, and they alone would remain unopened. Eventually they'd disappear, I never knew where. I imagine late at night my mom feasted on the Christmas oranges her children never consumed.

The thing is, back then, I couldn't get past Oranges's tough outside. The promise of a sweet inner life I just couldn't appreciate, especially when there was Snickers, who was, to be blunt, a little bit easy. I could just peel off Snicker's wrapper, like you saw on TV ( Oranges was never on TV! ) and Snickers was ready.
But today, Oranges seem so much more. I've read that the smell of citrus actually improves our behavior ( ... as reported in the noted science magazine "Cracked" ... .) Oranges come in her own packaging, that can be fun to remove slowly, carefully, gradually exposing the sweet, soft but firm, rounded delights ... ). And the health benefits of Oranges, as compared to Snickers, helps me put off the day that I'll need a prescription for blood pressure or diabetes or hairy kidneys or something.
Perhaps I've change biochemically. Oranges just seem to taste better these days. Maybe the foods that an adult enjoys are different, or maybe the breeds of oranges have improved. Either way, the time has come to make it official: I've broken up with Snickers. We've just been coasting for so long out of habit; I can just move on and I won't even miss her. I changed my Facebook status from "In a Relationship with Snickers" to "Snackatetically Single" and ... this stung a little ... unfriended Snickers.
I will miss the time we had together, the joy of Halloween candy, but I take comfort in knowing I can still enjoy the memories. And I will make new memories with Oranges!

Maybe I'll start by asking my mom what happened to all those Christmas oranges!
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Today's thought was inspired by this week's Change the World Wednesday Challenge:

February is being chosen by snack food manufacturers as "National Snack Food Month". That means that unhealthy snacks will be unusually promoted and consumers will be encouraged to buy them. Processed foods, especially snacks, are bad for us and bad for the planet. So, let's reclaim February for the good food cause. First, visit #28ate to get the facts and then, participate by taking at least one of the actions they suggest. Come back here and tell us what actions you're taking to support healthy food.

I love these challenges, since they give me a little something new to think about each week!
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P.S. I wrote a while back on why a bag of oranges is a great thing to keep in the car. It makes Oranges as convenient as a Snickers, and it facilitates simple charity. Try it!