Paul Gary has always had a love for food. Who doesn’t, right?
When he was a little shaver, in particular, he was awed by the notion of a vending machine. So many choices and the empowerment of cash-in-hand.
A trip to the vending machine – or ‘bending machine’ – was always a treat. As an aside, a little fellah understood how to ‘bend.’ He wasn’t quite certain of how to ‘vend.’ Hence, I think, the rationale behind calling it a ‘bending machine.’ (Later shortened, simply, to ‘bending’).
At any rate, bending was the highlight of a stop at any rest area along the expressway. It was also a key amenity to investigate upon check-in at a hotel.
- Check out the bed. Check.
- Check out the pool. Check.
- Check out the BENDING. Check
Imagine hearing the word ‘bending’ in a sort of sing-song fashion. Visualize the word accompanied by a little ringing sound followed by an echo and you’ve got it. He was a big fan of bending.
You slip in your dollar bill (or equivalent coins) and then punch in good ol’ #E3 and presto: out pops out those goodies you have been eyeing. And then, you have them in hand!
Like I said…empowerment.
But did you ever wonder who culls down a world of snack selections, whittling it down a manageable 32? Who…
It’s the kind of question that could keep you up nights if you were to let it.
Beverage bending, of course, is different. Generally you have your Pepsi® machine with Pepsi products and your Coca-Cola machine with Coke® products. The choices are generally more predictable.
And then there are the whole ‘healthy snacks’ bending choices. That’s a subject for a different time.
I’m not a big bending buyer. But, the other day, I was in the mood for peanut butter crackers. So, I fished out a dollar bill and the process began.
Even though we were talking about crackers and a middle-aged guy pushing the buttons instead of an eight-year-old with his treat, I gotta admit…the whole thing felt pretty darn exciting.
JG
Originally posted 2/27/2014
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