There aren’t many people who really “get me,” who really understand why I do what I do and think what I think. One of those people is my mom, who last night not only understood why I was so upset about cheese, but also responded with a Princess Bride reference. For context, when I was little I used to call Babybel/Laughing Cow cheese “cow cheese” because I couldn’t read and there was a cow on the packaging. Emphasis on the WAS.

I realized a few years ago that I am allergic to dairy products and thus I am unlikely to ever eat cheese again so this shouldn’t really effect my life BUT STILL! My research indicates that the cow is still pictured on The Laughing Cow^® Wedges and The Laughing Cow^® Smooth Sensations™ Cream Cheese Spread and has really just been taken off of the Mini Babybels but I still feels like the cow, and my childhood, are being slowly taken away from me.

It must have been the nostalgia of the cheese floating around my brain but I started thinking about another food related animal friend I hadn’t seen in a while.  That colorful fellow on what I used to call “zebra gum.”

I had to google it to find out it was actually called Fruit Stripe.

This was always a treat for me as a kid because my mom vehemently hates the sound of gum chewing so we were rarely allowed to have any at home.  The one time gum was officially approved was when we were traveling by plane and it was needed to prevent ear-popping. The fruity flavors became forever in my mind associated with air-travel.  I’d bet just the smell of it would instantly teleport me to Newark International Airport.

Of course now that I’ve spent so much time thinking about it, I realize that I am hardcore craving some Fruit Stripe right about now. Unfortunately for me I don’t think I’ve seen it in a store in about a decade.  I found it a few places online but always costing more than I really want to pay for gum.  Man, becoming an adult kinda blows.