Eating a good chip

Typically the potato chip can't be done wrong. I mean it's from a potato, fried, coated in oil and some salt; and for most taste buds maybe a bit of flavoring for those picky palates.

In any case, how can a chip be done wrong? How can a chip discover the injustice that is a "poor recipe?" These are the questions that often puzzle my buds when attempting to try out a new brand.

You see, while pacing through the chip aisle in the grocery store and wonder, "hmm, that's an interesting label.." Without thinking you glance and check out the A-texture, B-the particular flavorings they have available, and C-how big of a bag you want to inhale in the next few days/hours. Interestingly enough, some now have "light" and "no salt added" and "lower cholesterol" labels that just jump out at you from 5 ft away.

So you shift your weight in your stance and peer side to side as you take in again, the numerous amount of bags presented before you. Should you take the risk? How can you be sure that you will enjoy the "right" chip?

Either way, you take a risk. You grab one bag that possibly will quench the crispness that you're looking for. You pay, head home, rip open the bag, reach in for a chip, raise it up to your mouth and take your first bite.

A pause overcomes you as you wait for your taste buds to acknowledge the flavor and, and......and... it tastes like dirt. No wait, like cardboard tasting dirt. You scowl and stick your tongue out and if you're lucky spit out what is left in your mouth. For others, I'm afraid, you're tortured to ingest said foreign particles masquerading as a supposed potato chip.

With no way out, no solution, you resolve to roll up the bag and either toss it to the back of your pantry to be dealt with at a later date (preferably when it decomposes on it's own) or aim it straight for the trash can.

Sadly, you're left unsatisfied and disappointed, as you still have this yearning need for a great chip and have been deceived into buying something awful.

Chin up. Grab your keys and head back to the store. Try a different store. There's potentially a different arrangement of chips awaiting to be chosen, just wanting to make you (and your buds) happy again.