a newspaper man adjusts his pen

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

A convenience store with the best goods


Sheetz, we bow down before thee.

For one reason, your executives have our respect for going to battle against Pennsylvania’s archaic liquor laws that prevent the sale of beer in convenience stores. Keep fighting, though, because you are only able to sell six-packs of brew alongside bottles of natural spring water in Altoona, Pa.

Better yet, your sparkling stores seem to be the only places in southwestern Pennsylvania that sell bags of Sour Patch EXTREME Soft & Chewy Candy.

“It makes your mouth water before you even open the bag because you know your tongue is going to be assaulted,” said Amanda Gillooly, a colleague at the Observer-Reporter.

“They are sweet, but if you put dog food on the lazy Susan I’d probably eat it,” her coworker Michael Jones adds, while chewing a mouthful of white cheddar cheese coated popcorn. *

In this corner, I stop at Sheetz at every opportunity to buy these sweet and sour treats, partly because Gillooly has threatened to hurt me when they are not within her reach at work.

And she has because I occasionally keep bags of this gooey junk food to myself.

“Quit bogarting them, man,” Gillooly says as I type these words.

I flinch before handing them back to her with hesitation, and wonder how they would taste with beer.

* A lazy Susan purchased at a thrift store and usually filled with snacks sits at the center of the four desks that make up our pod in the newsroom. Right now, it also holds a bag of Goetze’s Caramel Creams, treats that Gillooly calls “old man candy.” But she eats them regardless.

4 comments:

Alison said...

I love those Goetze's Caramel Creams! I love how they explode in your mouth.

Also? My verification word is smismish, which is very cute and kind of describes what a Caramel Cream feels like too.

MJ said...

Wow.............. nuff said.

Scott said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
MJ said...

Of course, because your avatar is a dog.