Nov 11, 2016

Poppin' Fresh...

So, the Pillsbury pop cans.

I remember growing up, my parents would peel the paper and then whack the can on the counter to make it pop. When I was old enough to open them, I found that the pop startled me a little, so every time I opened them I would get a little freaked out in anticipation. Whack! Pop? Nope. Whack-POP-Aaah! There it is.

Somewhere along the way I started getting the self-popping ones. I don't actually know if they changed the packaging in some way, or if they were always supposed to be self-popping, but either way, my anxiety was relieved ever-so-slightly. I'd still wince a little when peeling back the paper, but it was tempered by knowing that the deed would be done by the time the paper was off.

Except, of course, when the paper was peeled and the can was still shut. UGH. Then, the instructions said, you were supposed to stick a spoon at the seam to make it pop. Like, put your hands on the spoon and put them right in the vicinity of that sneak-popping can and make it sneak-pop. On purpose. Madness!!

It was worth it, though. Worth it for licking the icing off the little lid while you waited for the rolls to bake, and worth it to smell the squishy dough as you rolled it into the little crescent shapes.

Now I'm older. The baton continues to pass among the generations, and my kids are learning about the pop cans. I tell them "My parents made these rolls for me, and now I'm making them for you," and I let them lick the icing container, and even call dibs on the middle cinnamon roll. Sometimes.

And it dawns on me that the rolls don't self-pop anymore. I peel the paper, and there are printed instructions to press a spoon at the seam until the can pops open. Have they always been there?

Regardless, I'm not putting my dainty fingers near that sneak-pop seam, spoon or not. My counter is sturdy and sufficient for making the can pop, so I give it a whack or two.

But I don't wince anymore, and the pop no longer startles me. I don't know what happened; why I am no longer anxious about the sneak-pop. Maybe Pillsbury figured out the psychology to the least-startling method for opening their pop cans. Or maybe some wrinkle in my own journey has smoothed, and my zebra-self now understands that the sneak-pop is not a threat. Who knows.

All I know is that cinnamon rolls and scrambled eggs are a winning breakfast at our house, and that I can eat a pop can cinnamon roll in 2 large bites.

You're welcome...

4 comments:

Elizabeth said...

You are writing the kind of story I need to find online today :P I also grew up with the same pop-anxiety, the same cinnamon roll heaven. My children don't get them because it's 2016 and they are so unhealthy. But we both turned out fine and it's high time I serve them some processed cinnamon rolls from a can (which really, are the very best kind)

Skerrib said...

Until I get a better grip on scratch ones, it's the cans for us. :)

Unknown said...

Still afraid of the pop!

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