Just Taste This

          There is much to be learned at Costco, isn’t there?  That ice cream will melt by the time you reach the actual cash register, that a drum of detergent might not be easy to lift, that no one will ever eat that many green olives, and, above all, that people love free samples.

          I was there a few days ago and saw people clamoring for lunch—I mean, for samples—of everything from chili to chips to cauliflower bites to cheese dip to candy to creamy potato salad (wait—did everything have to start with C?)

          And it occurred to me that anything served in a small enough portion will taste good.  Even the worst concoction in the world—if reduced to an appetizer size—is somehow palatable.

          You want a little bite of sponge, drizzled with motor oil?  You could actually eat that at Costco and think, “Hmm… not bad.”

          How about a sip of a snake venom smoothie?  “Tastes like chicken,” folks will say.

If you’re trying to eat healthy foods, you can justify a tiny bite of a hot dog, right?  And dang, that was pretty tasty!

There is something in our brains that tells us tiny is good—a tiny assignment at work is okay, a tiny phone call scarcely interrupts us, a tiny delay on the road is fine, a tiny baby animal is always adorable.

But make food tiny and whammo!  You’ve got a hit.  That is, if it’s also free.  You’ll notice people don’t like to actually pay for tiny food, and will complain at a restaurant if the portions are too small.  But put those same portions in a little paper cup at Costco, and people will be blissfully satisfied.

It’s the appetizer enigma.  Which is why I shall end this blog right now, and maybe you’ll think it’s even better than it really is.

Check out my very short, very tiny, but very informative YouTube Mom videos, too.  You can find them right here with just one tiny click.