Missing Link

I can’t explain why, but for some reason whenever I think about when I was a youngster growing up I invariably think about Snapple. Conversely, thinking about Snapple also makes me think about when I was growing up.

I think of their strawberry kiwi flavored lemonade beverage, which I remember being my favorite. I think of drinking Snapple before, and after, little league baseball practice (and games). I remember hanging out with Scott Poorman at his dad’s gigantic house, thinking how lucky he was that he got everything he ever wanted. All while drinking Snapple.

But, Scott Poorman wasn’t all that lucky. Sure, he had a golf cart all his own, and lived in a gigantic house and got everything he pointed at and said “I WANT”, but that’s not lucky. I know that now, but didn’t then. Back then I thought it was the best place on earth, and happily drank “The Best Stuff On Earth(tm)”.

It’s strange to me that I associate so much of my past with a beverage I drank for only one or two years. It does, however, fill me with a wonderful glow of good, happy, memories. A time when life was simple and all I had to care about seemed to be what flavor of Snapple to drink. I know, of course, that I had lots of stuff to worry about back then. And worry I did. I can’t however remember any of them. I could make some up, though, if it would make you happy. Here, let me give it a try:

I was worried global thermonuclear war. I was worried about inflation. I was worried that someday Iran would become a nuclear power and destabilize the region. I was worried about terrorism. I was worried I would never get a girlfriend (I probably legitimately WAS worried about that, to be honest). I was worried that George Lucas would make a prequel trilogy, and that it would suck horribly (a fear that sadly, was realized). I was worried that Snapple would go out of business.

And those are just a few of the things I was not really afraid of. Well, mostly.

So now here I am, thinking about “The Best Stuff on Earth”, while remembering the Best Memories on Earth. Well, they WERE the best memories on earth, but that crown is being taken over by new memories I’ve created recently. Thanks Ann