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August 29, 2006

I Like My Coffee Crisp!

One of the most inconvenient things about my apartment is the fact the laundry machines are coin operated. Oh sure, sometimes there's contention for the three washers and three dryers between the occupants of the 32 units, but I find my lack of quarters to be most bothersome. I rarely use cash, and when I do, I jealously squirrel away any quarters I get as change. This method usually leaves me short, so I became somewhat less picky when it came to sniff testing my not-quite-dirty clothes. This was, until I found out the vending machines at work give quarters for change, no purchase required. It has now become routine for me to stop by the vending machine on my way out the door, slip in a fiver, and walk to the bus stop, my pocket jingling with the promise of cleaner clothes.

Yesterday I as I knelt down to scoop my 20 quarters out of the change return, I glanced at the various snack foods behind the glass. Most of it was the usual programmer's fare: potato chips, candy bars, two packets of Jimmy Dean beef jerky (plain and teriyaki), wasabi almonds and three kinds of chewing gum. I was about the walk away, when I noticed a familiar yellow and red wrapper. I couldn't believe what I saw. I ran to my co-worker Thomas's office to make sure I wasn't dreaming.

Me: "Hey Thomas, have you been to the vending machine lately?"
Thomas: (staring at me for a few seconds, then smiling) "Coffee Crisp. I had two on Friday."

Coffee Crisp was one of my favourite childhood chocolate bars, and I was more than a little disappointed to find out it wasn't available in the US. This meant that along with Tim Horton's Coffee, Niagara Ice Wine and ketchup chips, Coffee Crisp would be part of my undeclared swag from trips across the border. And for three long years it was. Luckily for me and countless other Canadians, some kind-hearted souls set up the Coffee Crisp Petition to get this Canadian delicacy sold in the US. In July, 2006, Nestle caved to the incredible pressure of thousands of site visitors, and agreed to sell Coffee Crisp across the US, eventually making its way into Microsoft's vending machines, and into my trembling hands.

Having just returned from a weekend in Vancouver, I turned Bonnie into a Coffee Crisp addict. She started asking daily when we can return to Canada so she can get her next fix. Now she has to look no further than her corner store.

When someone asks me how I like my coffee, I can now answer proudly, I like my Coffee Crisp!

21:08 | Canada

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