Bite-Sized Derailers

I went to the local Giant the other day to go food shopping and I was amazed at just how many display racks were upfront near the checkout areas.  The contents of these racks? A bunch of different “bite-sized” candies in large bags.  These, of course, are on display because in 3 weeks or so, our doorbells will be ringing with kids dressed in really cute costumes asking for their Halloween “treats”.

A few thoughts here:

• How many times did your doorbells ring last year?  We had zero kids show up to our house.  I believe many parents, due to Covid, are a bit hesitant to have their kids knock on doors of multiple people not knowing those neighbors’ health/immunization status.  There may be far less children coming your way than pre-pandemic.
• Have you “overbought” Halloween “treats” in the past, resulting in those bite-sized candies sitting in your pantry calling you at night by your first name?  We all tend to NOT want to run out, hence ensuring more than an adequate supply.
• With childhood obesity being an incredibly serious issue in the U.S., should we really be handing out multiple, small packages of M&Ms, Reeces Pieces, Milky ways and (my favorite) Three Musketeers?  Can we think of some “treat” that is not nearly as hurtful?

So, do your very best to navigate around those large displays and NOT throw one or more of those large, bite-sized candies into your cart.  You will not be “treating” your or anyone elses’ health with these items.  The small nature of “bite-size” tricks us into believing that the harm is minimal but we all know that we don’t open just one of these…think about how many wrappers you wind up cleaning up and then realizing that you ate more than the equivalent of a large candy bar.  Take a pass!