An acquaintance in the process of becoming a friend* ("he" from my "The scribbles of drunks" post) today gave me a Caramel Apple Pop**. I remarked that not only did he give me delicious sugar, but also long-lost memories. Like a lollipop that has been licked and then fallen to the floor, these memories are a bit fuzzy, but they are still pleasant ones.
Wikipedia says that these candies came out in 1995, which seems about right. When they first showed up, they were extraordinarily popular at my middle school. Gas station convenience stores and other popular middle school hangouts sold them for exorbitant prices, such as 50¢. My parents had just gotten a membership to Sam's Club (think "Costco" or any other store that sells mayonnaise in vats), and I had the idea to purchase Caramel Apple Pops in bulk, and then vend them from my backpack during school hours. I think I priced mine at 35¢, and I think there was a discount if you bought four—only $1. My Caramel Apple Pops were not only cheaper than the normal sources of the candies, but far more convenient, as they were sold right in class, the lunchroom, or at my locker.
Eventually, my idea caught on. Or, maybe it wasn't even my idea to begin with. Soon there were a small handful of us Caramel Dealers roaming the school, selling our delicious and addictive contraband. (I don't know for sure if it was against the rules, but it probably was; they weren't too cool with kids having candy at school. Or hats. Or sagging pants.) I don't remember when it ended, exactly... perhaps I realized that the profit I was making was miniscule, or perhaps I just got tired of it, or perhaps I was threatened by the Caramel Mafia. (Perhaps one of my readers who went to middle school with me has a clearer recollection of how things went down.) All I know is that it was pretty sweet while it lasted.
* I use this awkward construct only to reference my previous post (and to be a little bit obnoxious). Since he is trending toward the "friend" side of things I would normally round up to friendship.
** Who am I kidding? Anyone who gives you a Caramel Apple Pop has to be a friend...
Currently listening: The Avalanches—Electricity (Dr. Rockit's Dirty Kiss), Fallen from Grace—Break Us
3 comments:
Cheerleaders at my middle and high school "officially" sold these as fund raisers.
Meanwhile, my friends and I got in trouble for selling 16 oz bottles of Pepsi products out of our lockers. There was a high demand, in particular for Mountain Dew, after our school district switched their vending machine contract from Pepsi to Coca-Cola products.
You said "sweet while it lasted."
Caramel Apple Pops, yes, I remember those, and I remember you selling them. But let us pay due homage to their precursor, the "Kablooey," and then, almost parenthetically, the "Greenade" and the "Cherry Bomb," whose devotees could be identified by tongue-hue, blue, green or red, respectively, and, having relinquished a crinkly pocketful of the proscribed paraphernalia to a frowning teacher, sat in numbers, at any time of day, in the QUIET ROOM. (This after the school tried, unsuccessfully, to institute a ban against selling the candy, eating the candy in class, or even, really, bringing it to school, falling just short of indicating the candy by name and thereby undermining the imperious language of the restriction.) I remember hard candy, in various permutations, doing brisk commerce for at least a year before summer arrived to scorch it out of our collective, increasingly sexualized imagination. Then: "chromies."
Hahaha, yes! I had forgotten about those things. I think I sold that contraband for a while too.
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