I brought my lunch to school nearly every day when I was young. Mama Mia taught me and TheDeanInc to pack our own lunch the night before a school day. In the morning, all we had to do was grab our lunch box and head to school. TheDeanInc and I hated making our lunches and would try to negotiate this task back to Mama Mia. She rarely consented.
One night she offered.
TheDeanInc and I were thrilled. Mama Mia was going to make our lunch. Yipee!
As if making my lunch weren't already enough, I opened my bag the next day to find chips, some chocolate, yogurt, and a sandwich. I'd hit the jackpot. Yogurt was only for special occasions. Oh I loved yogurt. And chips? February 29th was more common at my house. We
never had chips. Ever. And chocolate? My mom's idea of a treat was an apple slice dipped in peanut butter. Chocolate was more unusual than chips.
I ignored the questions surrounding my mom's sudden mental state and started eating.
The sandwich, probably peanut butter, was fine. I grabbed my bag of Cheetoh chips. I couldn't wait to lick the orange powder off each finger. I opened the bag.
Doritos? That was odd.
Doritos would be fine, I guess. I couldn't believe the chip company had mixed the bag.
Next was the yogurt. My flavor was bubble gum - yes,
bubble gum. I opened the container. The plastic seal was missing but I was more concerned with gobbling yummy yogurt than worrying about a silly seal. The flavor was a bit off, though. It tasted more like strawberry than bubble gum.
Finally, the chocolate! This was the best lunch
ever! I opened my box of Raisinets. They looked different than I remembered but, it'd been awhile. I popped one in my mouth and
Milkduds?
What
was this lunch?
After school I discussed some things with TheDeanInc. He'd had a weird lunch as well. In fact, he had Cheetos in his Doritos bag, bubble gum flavored yogurt in his strawberry container, and Raisinets in his MilkDud box.
Was he thinking what I was thinking...?
We grabbed some paper. We brainstormed our letter to Frito Lay and Nestle. They needed to know they'd made a mistake. Who knew how many bags and boxes were affected. Due to our kindness in alerting them to this mistake, would they consider offering us a year supply of chips and chocolate. Sincerely, us.
We proudly showed our work to Mama Mia. She'd be so happy that we worked a solution on our own. And maybe, just maybe, we'd share a bag or two with her.
"Guys, do you know what the date is today?"
"...no..."
"It's the 1st of April. In other words, April Fools!"
She'd taken the time to carefully open the chip bags, swap them, and glue the bag shut again. Mama Mia had taken a spatula, completely scrapped each yogurt container into a small cup, and switched the flavors. She'd also opened the chocolate boxes, replaced them with the wrong chocolate, and glued the ends together.
She got us. She got us
good.
