Temptation

I have long-admittedly been a packaging whore. It may come from growing up in a town in Upstate New York, U.S.A., that was a test market area for new products, or possibly from the years I spent working in the advertising industry.

Whatever the reason, it is the one vice that I cannot seem to abolish from my life.

After a stressful week dealing with a sibling nearly dying, a car making strange noises, problems with work, and demands coming from every family member, I lost it.

I got in my insane car, drove to Whole Foods, and proceeded to walk around the store, looking around, taking in the sights and smells, and discovering that Vosges Chocolates had gone completely commercial and was making "exotic" chocolate bars.

I remember when this company opened up in Chicago and we purchased their truffles for a client's wife as a gift. The owner even gave us free samples to savor. Of course, I went for this bar with its dried bananas, walnuts, and nutmeg. How sexy is that?

The text on the back of the package instructed me on how to enjoy an exotic candy bar. Really? One needs instructions to eat a chocolate bar? Okay. I'm game.

I followed everything to the word, which promised the revelation of the deep sweetness of island banana, roasted walnuts, and nutmeg, reminiscent of freshly baked banana bread.

I got a mouth full of overpriced dark chocolate, with odd bits of chewy dried banana, which I had to pick out of my teeth. Not exactly the intoxicating, sensual experience promised by my pretty package host, Katrina.

I had to laugh. Vosges managed to get $8 for 1/6th of a pound of chocolate, and someone in my family will eat the rest of this bar and not bother to follow the eating instructions on the back of the pretty package.

Has my life as a packaging whore ended?

No.