Halfdone Development

Something of the week

Nerds!

And I don't mean geeks or computer loving people, I mean Wonka Nerds Candy.

I stopped by CVS today to pickup some paper clips (I was out of Cdrom Disc Extraction Tools) and found on the counter boxes of Nerds candy. I haven't seen one since I was a kid going to the flea market with my parents and getting that as a reward for not complaining too much about all the walking we did and looking at vast arrays of junk. Or was it more a means of preventing cries over skipping the candy cart that was right next to the exit?

The packing is just as I remember it. There is the usual half one flavor and half the other with a sliding door for each half. It even opened as a remembered. You would need to remove the top cap before you can slide the doors and it would always rip down the middle and you need to attempt to get all the pieces removed before you can open them. Then there is a side that will slide open without any problems while the other side would require ripping the edge of the box.

Then you get to actually eating them. Some people like eating all of the nerds on one side first. And usually it's the favorite flavor first then the other or they prefer to save the best for last. I prefer to eat both flavors at the same but in the exact proportions, 50-50. You need to take into account both quantity and size. They seem to gotten better at this since the box I got has equal shares of small and large nerds on both flavors. I remember that the grape always had more midget nerds while the strawberry got the fat ones.

Getting an even amount of each side is still a pain. You need to hold the box using one hand while holding the doors open with your thumb and finger. Doing this is quite awkward.

You have to shake the box or bang it on your other hand. After you have some in your hand you inevitable have too much of a favor and then you have to play with the doors so you get the correct amount. Even more awkward and hard to keep open.

End result is a hand full of nerds and a half empty box.

Then there is an issue with each nerd. On the box there is a picture of these "nerds." They don't look like myself nor other nerds I know. They seem way too active with the floating, jumping, flying, surfing, gliding, and skating. There isn't any science, star trek/star wars, D&D or computer stuff shown.

If you look at the actual candy they look nothing like this picture either. It looks more like they drank too many Fizzy Lifting Drinks and got mashed up in the fan.