Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Who Knew?

At the risk of embarassing myself, I'm going to tell you another secret.
Today when I got home from class, I microwaved what was probably my 286th bag of popcorn. It was a mini-bag, just for me, of Pop Secret brand kettle corn. As I was crunching away in front of the computer, I examined the bag and the instructions on it, giggling thinking of someone learning how to make microwave popcorn for the first time.
I would consider myself an expert- I've got the timing down just right so that I don't burn it but there are seldom more than 5 unpopped kernels remaining in the bottom of the bag. I get the most out of that thing. But my eyes lingered on the brand name, Pop Secret. What exactly is so secret about this popcorn? Are the manufacturers claiming that they know something about popcorn that I don't?
And then it hit me, like the last pop of a kernel in the microwave- the brand is a play on the phrase "top secret!" And for just a moment I felt so proud of myself for deciphering this tricky, secretive name that I had heard for most of my life but never gave any real thought to.
And following was the realization that I may have just cognitively caught up with 5th graders.
So what I really want to know is, who among you readers always knew why it was called Pop Secret? And don't play with me here, let's be honest.
There's no shame in acknowledging that you're still figuring things out, even if it is just a bag of microwave popcorn.

5 comments:

  1. I never really thought about why it was called Pop Secret. I just thought that they knew the secret to making good microwavable popcorn.

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  2. Thank you! So it wasn't just me. I feel much better.

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  3. I feel very enlightened now. Ha! Spy corn!

    And I feel pretty ridiculous not to have noticed this sooner. I'm a popcorn addict. My five-year-old and I fight over the bucket of popcorn at the movies. Neither of us knows how to share.

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  4. Weird knowledge is always awesome!

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  5. Good work detective. I would have never realized that in my life time. Never.

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