Just a kid in a See’s Candies shop
Last week, I had the privilege of attending a grand opening event at See’s Candies at the Keystone Mall. I was vaguely familiar with See’s because of this glorious sign:
I found out during the tour that See’s Candies gives away over one million pounds of chocolate every year. It’s great marketing because they know they’ve got a great product. Once you try some, you find yourself counting down the days until you’re able to make a return trip to See’s to have even more of their chocolate. It’s not like I would know anything about that or anything. Let’s just say that giving away that candy is a great investment on their part. And they get a great return on that investment.
Even though See’s isn’t very well-known here in the Midwest, we definitely know our classic television episodes. OK…maybe not all of us. But I sure do! One of the most memorable bits in the history of sit-coms has a connection with See’s Candies:
http://youtu.be/8NPzLBSBzPI
Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance trained for this episode at the See’s factory. And it seems that the good folks at See’s are proud of this connection. As they should be. And so as part of the grand opening, they invited all of us to try our hand at packing our own quarter-pound boxes of candy. Just to keep things interesting, we had to race our fellow participants.
I’ve made and cut pizzas before. I’ve scooped countless scoops of ice cream before. But I’ve never done anything as complicated as picking a piece of chocolate and packing it in a tiny box. You have to hold the paper cups just so. And it’s much more difficult than it looks at first glance. So I watched other participants and picked up a few tips from the great employees who were there to answer any questions we had. Oh – these employees were also holding boxes of chocolate for us to sample. I think I tried five different pieces. Really loved the Polar Bear Paw and the Scotchmallow. The most unique, however, was the the pineapple dark chocolate. I even texted Christy about it, to which she responded:
Ummm -the dumbest thing to do is give your wife a play by play of each of the yummy chocolates you are trying at a candy store’s grand opening, just FYI. 😉
Note to self: You’ve known this woman since 1995. You know that was a pretty boneheaded thing to do. It doesn’t matter if you knew you’d be bringing some kind of chocolate home. This is the perfect way to get yourself in the doghouse and a great way to make sure you’re sleeping on the floor in the Living Room for a month. No. You don’t even get to sleep on the couch. Not a wise move there, Matty.
So I need to remember that next time. Or better yet, figure out a way to bring her with me! 😀
But anyway…back to boxing the candies. I gathered up my tips from the experts and prepared to be humiliated by my lack of co-ordination. Remember: this is the guy who can’t sing and clap at the same time. How is it that I made it through marching band again?
As you can see, I was hardly a natural. And, like Lucy, I was tempted to just shove the chocolates in my mouth. Didn’t think the fine folk at See’s would appreciate that though. They’re quite proud of their chocolates. And they should be.
Paper cups were flying around. Arms were flailing. And chocolates were bouncing out of the box. See the lady on the left? I think she’s getting a kick out of my performance. It was quite pitiful.
Can I help it that I was doing such a poor job of keeping the chocolates in the box that she decided to help? No. Absolutely not. And in spite of what some people might say, she wasn’t my private coach. Just a good Samaritan. And there was definitely no illegal doping going on. I was already too jacked up on sugar.
You know, Forrest’s mama makes even more sense. You never know what you’re gonna get. Especially if I’m the one packing your box of chocolates. You might not even get them turned the right way. I know. It’s sad.
Did I mention I won the race? Well…I guess I should say that we won the race. But that’ll be our little secret.
Right?
I mean…I’ll gladly have a rematch if See’s wants to provide the candies again. 😉
It was a great evening of camaraderie, chocolates, and a little friendly competition. In addition to learning about the great story behind See’s Candies, meeting some pretty cool people who work with the company, and seeing first-hand how proud they are of their chocolates, I came away with one great tidbit about their chocolates.
Almost all of their candies are gluten-free! The only candies that contain gluten are the ones that have a decoration on them (like this). This was amazing news for our family. It might even be life-changing.
When all was said and done, the good people at See’s Candies sent us home with enough candy to last well past Valentine’s Day – unless some children find the secret stash. That’s a good thing, too. I really didn’t want to have to sleep on the Living Room floor. Thanks again, See’s for a wonderful evening!
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