woppers

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always sought answers to questions that no one else cared to ask. Not brilliantly insightful questions, or even ones that have any relevance to the rest of the world. Just things that made me wonder. This past Saturday, I asked myself, “Were the creation of MILK DUDS a result of Mr. Hershey enjoying a WHOPPERS malted milk ball that didn’t turn out as planned?”

In most every box of WHOPPERS malted milk balls, there are one or two candies that aren’t crunchy in the center – they’re chewy – sort of like a MILK DUD, but minus the caramel. In my opinion, the WHOPPERS duds are better than WHOPPERS or MILK DUDS. Nevertheless, I don’t think I’d enjoy an entire box of WHOPPERS duds.

You see, WHOPPERS duds are good because you don’t expect to get one. You expect something good, but not amazingly great. When I put a WHOPPERS malted milk ball in my mouth, I expect to taste some milk chocolate, and then – CRUNCH – not – CHEW.

I believe happiness has to do with expectations. Reality can only fall sort, meet, or exceed one’s expectations. Depending upon the outcome, one is disappointed, content, or happy. And a chewy WHOPPER makes me happy.

Believe it or not, all these thoughts went through my head in about a minute as I sat in the packed theatre of the 4:15 p.m. showing of “Little Miss Sunshine.” I didn’t expect to see it in the theatre – or ever for that matter. Please don’t misunderstand, I wanted to see this movie, but since Myles arrived a little more than five months ago, my life has – well, changed. The commercial for this movie came on a couple times over the past few months while Jenna, Myles and I watched TV. Each time, I laughed and Jenna secretly took a mental note and made a plan.

Luckily, other people liked the movie enough that the theatre decided to keep showing it through the Labor Day weekend. This holiday marks our seventh wedding anniversary and Jenna arranged for Myles to spend the weekend with his Grandparents. When Jenna told me she wanted to see “Little Miss Sunshine,” I was thrilled. I usually enjoy this kind of movie and expected it to be a typically good independent film with quirky characters and good writing.

It turned out to be a box of WHOPPERS with a couple of the oh, so fantastic duds. I recommend you do not talk about or read anything more about Little Miss Sunshine. Just go see it with an open mind and no expectations - you won’t be disappointed.