I Could Use A Doughnut Right Now.

I miss doughnuts. Even when they are available I don't always, well, avail. Truth is, I miss eating foods containing sugar or fat without that nagging voice that says shame shame. Don't misunderstand, I still eat those things upon occasion - occasion being defined as those foods within arm's reach - but what I miss is eating them guiltless. Just eating whatever you felt like was such a joy back in the day before science, evil, devil inspired science, told the world that good things to eat were bad things to eat. Now I have to hold the noble cookie at arm's length and paraphrase a troubled Hamlet before I pop it into my mouth. To eat or not to eat, that is the question. Part of the fun of growing-up was looking forward to the day when your parents no longer dispensed cookies, candies and pastries at their own discretion. That magical day, when with money in your pocket you could sit in a Dunkin Doughnut shop and say I'll have that one and that one and that one. Oh and also that one. And, ah, I need more sugar for my coffee. That day never really came though. Not for my generation anyway. By the time we hit twenty-one we all knew that excessive sugar led to obesity which led to medical problems and no dates and that excessive fat intake led to clogged arteries which led to death, a problem not as serious as no dates, but still a problem. The fun was gone from feasting. And now I read - the true origin of all my problems as reading dispels ignorance and ignorance is bliss - that a further list of nagging concerns has been added to the ammunition of my conscience. A list this time not of don't do's but rather of do's. A list of foods we should eat every day. To wit, green leafy vegetables, whole grains, nuts or seeds, green tea and low or no fat milk. Where, I ask you is the Snickers, the napolean, the big batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies that come out of the oven smelling like heaven itself? Oh well there are other good things in life. Like smoking. What! I can't smoke either! Next thing you know someone will say that booze is bad for you.