HARD TACK MANIA

Almost done with the food stories. This one gags me when I think on it. Not trying to be gross - just relating a story from days gone by. I was young and stupid at the time. It took place at Arkansas State JC where I was on basketball scholarship. In those days, it was not a totally free ride. During the off season, we worked at odd jobs around campus. On this particular occasion we were cleaning the concession stand as the first game of the season was near at hand. I was given the job of cleaning the popcorn popper. It was a large machine, like the ones in movie theaters. I had cleaned the kettle, windows and "floor" of the popcorn bin. The final thing was to clean a drawer below the bin which contained the unpopped kernels (hardtacks). There must have been an entire season's worth of hardtacks in the bin. It was a mixture of unpopped kernels, partially-popped kernels and some small completely popped pieces which had fallen through the holes in the floor. I will never know what possessed me to sample the hard tacks. In those days I was always hungry, even at the completion of a meal so I "ran on hungry". The first bite wasn't bad, so I tried another, and another and another ... Knowing what I now know, it was insane to do what I did. The kernels, popping oil, etc. had lain there since the last season, incubating all the while. Why I didn't come down with some dreaded disease I will never know.

P.S. Heard a good quote on Writer's Almanac (Garrison Keillor): "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is the fear of the unknown." Howard Phillip Lovecraft ( 1890-1937)