Twilight for Twinkies

     Due to the tendency of union leaders to kill the goose that lays the golden, cream-filled egg, we may be facing a crisis unprecedented in my lifetime--the twilight of the Twinkie, the demise of the Ding Dong. Frankly, the fading of the fruit pie would not have a significant impact on my adult life, eating Hostess snacks is merely another memory of the childhood I have left behind, along with jumping rope and playing tag. These much maligned munchies are condemned for their preservatives and blamed for childhood obesity, the problem with that argument is that kids of my generation ate them on a semi-regular basis and we did not become obese.  When I was in school, each class had one, maybe two, fat kids. It was an unofficial, but long term position, like having a smart boy, a smart girl, a small kid, a class clown, a spoiled brat, a rich kid and a bully.
     The reason we could eat sugar-filled, fat-saturated snacks without building big behinds, is that we did not leave behind skipping rope and playing tag.  The caloric intake is not the problem, the caloric output is.  Back then the homes were small, the kids numerous, and the moms shooed us outside where we would be safe--from them.  Being confined to the house meant you were sick, had just been spanked or were about to be spanked. Be it ever so toy filled, there's no place like house arrest. All the good things happened outside, and most of those required physical activity of some kind.  Back then Wii was "we"--neighborhood kids, playing together like a pack of juvenile jackals. Yes, we were destructive, but that is why we had to run.  Running is good for you, so is climbing and hiding depending on the destructiveness of the game you have been playing.
     So don't dis the Ding Dongs. Calories are not the culprit and, I figure, all those preservatives will enable us baby boomers to live longer. Now it appears some other company will step in to fill our sweet dreams and rescue the Hostess workers from their own union, and the magical bond between their buns and ours will live on.