So Life Has Come To This

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Me Knows Better Than to Say This… but I will.  What happened to my youth?  What happened to the adventures in life?   There was a time when New Year's Eve meant staying out late, drinking and laughing till way past midnight, but the past decade has been anything but that as father time demands an early close to the evening.  I was afraid that age had finally caught up with Jimmy and life was over, but now the adventures are back… well almost.

There was a time when an interesting evening activity was wine tasting… not that Jimmy was very good at distinguishing the flavors erupting on the palate.  Heck, I had a hard time distinguishing between a Merlot and a Riesling… not sure where that word came from but I think it's a white wine.  But I was pretty adept at knowing the difference between the alcoholic beverages which were fermented with hops if that is any consolation.

But at this stage in my life… it has come to this.  Instead of wine tasting… the new vice is… wait for it… peanut butter tasting.  Yes you heard right.  Last New Year's Eve, a group of friends were bantering the age old question… which is better - JIF or Skippy? Lines were drawn and stretched back to childhood preferences.  Apparently change is not a word used well in my circle of friends.  

However, we decided to do a Taste Off to settle our differences once and for all with a blind sampling and crackers between each test to ensure a clean palate.  Each person had to list their current favorite then taste both and select the best.  

Jimmy's favorite since childhood is, has been and will forever be Creamy JIF.  The group was divided almost equally between the two giants of processed chemical spread, with entrenched stances similar to mine as to which is the best variety.  Vows were made that they could tell the difference.  In the unlikely event of selecting the opposing brand, each person swore they would never change.  Game on.

This may sound like an exaggeration, but I can assure it wasn't.  The beer may have been talking for everyone and boasts were ringing with bravado saved for major sporting events as each taste tester claimed the ability to tell the difference.  

The results?  Well over half of us were unable to distinguish our preferred peanut butter and about that same number came to the conclusion they liked the opposite one better than their original selection.  

Jimmy has decided, while it might be difficult to get used to buying Creamy Skippy, I would be unopposed to the selection… if it were cheaper.  Case closed.