There’s no avoiding it.
I know you’ve seen it, had an involuntary reaction.
Frankly, I know mine. There’s no middle ground.
So, let’s have it.
I want to know where you stand on candy corn.
Yes, candy corn.
It is the grandma’s fruitcake of Halloween.
That tri-colored triangle of chewy, often-stale sugarness.
It’s everywhere, you know.
It’s one of the first signs of fall.
It’s waiting for you with a special display at the checkout.
So, which are you, Dear Reader?
Do you giggle when you first see it appear in the store?
Is this the one time of year you forgive the merchants for being ridiculously ahead of the natural holiday calendar?
Christmas decorations in September?
Unforgivable.
Candy corn in July?
Delightful!
I think you can see where I’m trending on this one.
Candy corn makes me happy.
Yeah, yeah.
Artificially colored “kernels” of wax that resemble real life cobs of corn. Well, maybe.
I get it.
And still, candy corn makes me smile.
We are a house divided.
One kid loves it and ate the entire bag I brought home the other day.
Don’t know that I’ve ever been more proud.
The other daughter?
She can’t stand the stuff.
But then, this one doesn’t like jelly beans, either.
What can I say?
I tried to raise her right.
We’ll address the jelly bean issue closer to Easter.
Meanwhile, Husband is no help.
He’ll tell you he’s anti-candy corn, as well.
Just don’t turn your back.
You know where I’m going with that one.
Politics.
Religion.
Have we ever been a society more divided?
Keeping to our kind because we can’t stand to be around anyone different.
And now, we need to add candy corn to that list.
Here’s the thing, though.
At that very same grocery store with the bags and bags of candy corn, there’s an amazing thing happening.
They also have chocolate, lollipops and peppermints.
Even sweets with coconut, which is so very wrong if you ask me.
There is no candy ever improved with the addition of coconut.
Still, I don’t boycott the store around the corner because they stock coconut candy.
I load up on my candy corn and trust the coconut is there for someone else’s candy bowl.
Maybe yours, Dear Reader.
It’s a beautiful thing.
It’s possible we don’t have to agree.
On religion.
On politics.
On candy.
On corn.
Maybe the trick is seeing that it’s all our different flavors that make this life the treat it is.
What I’m trying to say is I’m okay with you if candy corn isn’t your thing.
All the more for me.
How sweet is that?
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