Ever think about this? The earth-shaking question of whether or not potato chips are really necessary?
I did yesterday. My late sister and I had this tradition we’d share as young adults and later as moms when our kids were young. We’d get together with a good movie, a pack of Red Vines and two bags of barbeque-flavored potato chips. We each got our own bag. We’d watch a movie that featured a female hero…an action figure who really “kicked butt.”
Our favorite movie of all time was the 2nd in the Alien movie series – Aliens…in that movie the character Ripley, played so wonderfully by Sigourney Weaver, was first, female; second, a mom figure; and third, the hero. My sister and I both had issues in our lives that would have benefited from a Ripley – someone who could wham! pow! the bad dudes and help us save our children from hurt. Oh, well. So, we’d get together with our sodas and bbq chips.
I think one of the big themes of the late 20th century was that of health and wellness. Let’s throw out the salt and bacon, grow more lettuce, carrots and sprouts and eat orchards worth of pears, apples and apricots. And get some exercise. And enough sleep.
But yesterday I thought about potato chips. As I was enjoying them…and, yes, I really did enjoy them…I wondered about what would happen to all the thousands of jobs if suddenly the manufacture of potato chips went away. In our difficult economic climate, people need a paycheck.
Those companies who make potato chips employ lots of people. There are the potato growers. And the shippers of the raw potatoes. Then there are the companies who produce the potatoes and everyone in every part of that process from raw potato to chip-in-the bag. Then more shippers sending the tasty bags to market. That’s a great very many jobs on the line.
Here’s the big issue: are potato chips really necessary? You could say they are not good for health and wellness. You could say they are okay eaten in moderation…but who can eat just one?
For me it isn’t about health, wellness or jobs. It’s about my sister. My sister passed away in 2006 and I miss her. Yesterday I was feeling her loss and during shopping, bought a bag of bbq-flavored chips. I put on a movie later that day and…yep…ate the whole bag.
No, it’s not a healthy thing to do. Yes the popular thing is to eat fruits and veggies and scorn salt and “wasted calories.” However I’ll tell you something – no amount of sliced apples or peeled carrots could have made me feel closer to my sister’s memory than did that bag of chips.
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Very nice post. As a health nut I almost judged your chip habit. But after reading the whole story, I wanna go and get some chips too.
Linda,
What a beautiful post! Thank you, thank you!
Wow, thank you so much. There is a reason that the kitchen is the gathering place in many homes and it’s because – and you made the point – food connects us, sharing a meal together connects us. Occasionally I feel bad that I have disposable income to spend on “useless” food like potato chips when there are places on this planet where people go without basic nutrition. We live in a very complex world…and being human is a very complex thing. @annedreshfield
Hi Linda, Anne here, community manager intern at Livefyre. Like others have said, this is a great, honest post. Potato chip weakness runs in my family — we all love ‘em, and we all know we’ll keep eating ‘em as long as they’re in front of us. This has led to potato chips being more or less eradicated from my parent’s house, but we still enjoy them sometimes, usually when we’re all out together for a family meal. Food does more than just fill us up; it connects us to people. Welcome to Livefyre, and please let us know if there’s anything we can do for you!
Hi Linda
What a real life post. I do remember my family just the same. My sister two year older than me, I shared everything with her, friendship, fighting, sharing personal problems, and all that went on in the family. For you Potato chips have a special attachment. it has nothing to do with unhealthy habits, but it is a bond between you and your sister. Keep it going.
Thanks for sharing, I will remember it for a while.
Fran A
That’s so funny because when I was a kid my dad would buy chocolate covered cherry cordials and hide them – or so he thought. I loved those things and thought I was so careful to only take one per box but he always knew. @Red Kathy
Hi Linda,
Your story is beautiful, a true honor to your sister. I know how difficult loss can be.
I have to admit a big grin came across when I read the title! My kids used to get upset (angry at times) with me after grocery shopping because the chips went straight into my room. Hands off my chips! And it wasn’t like they didn’t get almost anything they wanted you know.
Blessings to you!
@LindaCSmith I don’t but the originals because I’d end up doing the same thing.
@LindaCSmith @imgib3 This truly touched my heart, how something so simple as a bag of chips brings a flood of good memories back into the frame of life.
@LindaCSmith @The Crazy Rambler This is my thought as well, 98% of the time I eat clean, very clean, if I want to have a chip, or something simular, I indulge. You are right about wellness both for body and soul and there are times when the soul might need a kettle chip, btw, barbeque was my favorite well.
@keepupweb I have tried Pop Chips and I’ve discovered a truth about myself – when it is really necessary, substitutes don’t work – I end up consuming both the substitute then go out and get the original anyway.
@Wilson Writes Love Kettle chips!
@Evelyn Parham They didn’t have the Hawaiian brand spicy chips back-in-the-day, but those work just as well!
@The Crazy Rambler I agree! One bag once a year certainly can’t hurt much! But as I get older my stomach lets me know that more and more I will pay for my indulgences. Having said that, I’d rather suffer a little stomach upset after enjoying some good memories than have to contend with red, swollen eyes because all I could remember were the painful memories.
@Tia Peterson Hi Tia, yes it is the little habits that remain strongest. Your memory of you and your sisters heading to the candy store reminds me that my cousin and I would beg change from our parents and head to the store to buy a coke and a comic book. How fun those times were.
@imgib3 You know, it actually took me by surprise in the grocery store isle when I walked by the chip bags how much I was missing my sister. In 2006 both my sister and my mom passed away and even though it has been five years, you never stop missing people. Just the sudden sight of that particular brand of bbq chips brought her sharply to my mind. I have a feeling that as the years go by I will indeed sit with yet another bag o’chips and my worn copy of Aliens.
Whatever happened to “everything in moderation”. If eating potato chips brings us a little joy, we should be able to eat some without feeling guilty.
Has anyone else tried Pop Chips? They’re neither baked nor fried. They’re popped like pop corn and they taste like real potato chips. The bag says that there’s 120 calories in about 23 chips. The only 2 downsides that I know of are they’re more expensive than regular chips and they’re very hard to find around here.
I can totally relate – for me, it’s Kettle chips. Thanks for sharing such a meaningful tradition.
Hi Linda,
I really enjoyed your post! Sometimes we have to do what makes us feel good. There’s no crime in that.
This post makes me want to run out and get me so BBQ potato chips.
Take care,
Evelyn
There is health and wellness for our body…. as well as health and wellness for our soul. I think we need to feed both! Even if one seems to go against the other. Then again: since you don’t eat a bag of chips a day, it’s not gonna hurt your physical wellbeing really, while it gives a lot of comfort to your soul and honors your relationship with your sister. One can do a whole lot worse…
I agree, Linda. What a great way to share a fabulous, fun memory of your relationship with your sister. My memories of potato chips are family-related, too! I distinctly remember finding money in the sofa from time to time and heading down to our local penny candy store, where they would sell little bags of Wise brand potato chips. My sisters and I would do that all the time. We got really attached to that brand!
I know that things change, economies shift, and routines fade into history. But you know what? I cherish the memories that much more. Sometimes, we take for granted our little habits and routines until they are gone and then we realize how awesome they were.
That is a beautiful story! A moment of true love and awareness.
I wish you all the best. And many, many more bags of BBQ chips!