kurtdillard said:
It both saddened and ammused me to see how excited my kids and I got when we found Pepperidge Farms Goldfish (
both original and chedder!) and Double-chocolate Nantucket cookies at the big Carrefour near our house. Its been about 18 months since we saw any Goldfish crackers at any grocery store in Corrientes or Resistencia, and the huge batch I bought in Buenos Aires back in January ran out a couple months ago. This kids were jumping and dancing as we hauled about 20 packages to the cart where my wife was buying milk and other more common junk.
Living in a 3rd world country makes one savour and relish things that seemed absurd back in the US
Hi Kurt, we've never exchanged comments before but I've read many of yours and they always surpass a person with average intelligence. This time I feel compelled to reply.
And just to mention, I don't have children of my own so there may be things I don't know in this case, but I have participated in the lives of many families and their children so I do have some insight.
And if I remember correctly you and your family will shortly be returning to live in the US.
My comment is as follows: Goldfish crackers, while a "fun" food are outright junk. They are not produced in Argentina, however there is a limitless variety of cracker and cookie products that are on the same par as Goldfish. Since we are not comparing high quality goods here I think that it's fair to say there are many comparable items here, maybe not of the same shape, concept and flavor of Pepperidge Farm Goldfish, but fun to eat all the like.
I personally wouldn't encourage consumption to children of these types of goods living in another country and making it into a cult following and "buying up all of the stock" to ensure an endless supply.
I personally think it's better to consume local products when it comes to items in this category. If we were talking about appliances, electronics, or any type of equipment I would be all for buying the imported variety because it is simply far superior to what is available on the local market.
Also buying 20 packages of cookies or snacks is decadent, and not something I would encourage even if they were the last few packages of Oreos ever again to be produced. It's one thing to stock up on paper goods, toiletries, etc to save money on a bulk purchase, but one thing I don't miss about the US is being outside of a Wal-Mart store, seeing an endless stream of 400 pound people with swollen ankles and green yellow toenails, carting out huge quantities of junk food. I once saw a 30lb bag of potato chips offered for sale at Wal-Mart that were packaged in bags that were the size of the black plastic garbage bags that the encargado uses. Who needs this amount of potato chips at one time? When your kids return to live in the US they will have access to all of the goldfish they want, but they may never remember nice treats that do come from here like "conitos de dulce de leche", "colaciones", pepas, etc.......you get my drift? When I hear stories like this it reminds me a time that I travelled to Paris, and right next to my hotel was a McDonalds. I was standing on the sidewalk, saw a tour bus pull up and let out about 50 young people who were all speaking english and many wearing UCLA sweatshirts, all filed in to eat at McDonalds, again this was in Paris, if you get my drift.
Anyway this was not meant to bash you but I felt it was necessary to speak my mind in this case.
Cheers, David
