Day Three

Today, as promised, I will put on the hat of a hater. I'm going to do my best to name the brands that I'm aware of, but for one reason or another I avoid.

The brand that I probably have the most venom toward is Franco-American. I will admit that I'm a fan of pasta from a can. It's not classy, it's not healthy, and it's barely delicious. That said, I'm kind of a connoisseur. I don't care that they're iconic or that the name in considered by some to be nostalgic, Spaghetti-os taste like crap. They're no good. In fact, I've never had any Franco-American canned pasta that I like. It took me years to convince my parents that there was a difference. I'm a Chef Boyardee girl. I like the ravioli, and I like the ABCs & 123s. My favorite Chef Boyardee pasta of all time, however, is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with Meatballs. They haven't made it for years, but to me, it's the quintessential canned pasta delicacy. They now make Spiderman pasta and "forkables" that are similar to the Ninja Turtles I loved, but its not quite the same.

I never set out to hate Franco-American, but it happened over several years of botched shopping trips. When I was in junior high and high school, I was very involved in after-school activities, and sometimes I'd be at school until 9 or 10 p.m. When I got home I was usually famished, and I'd go to the pantry for a can of Ninja Turtles with Meatballs. On good days, that's what I'd find. On bad days, read "when my Dad did the grocery shopping", I'd find Spaghetti-os. Sometimes I'd try to grin and bear it and eat them anyway. After a few of those times, I started deciding I'd rather go to bed hungry. So, while Franco-American did nothing to me besides taste different than what I like, I will forever associate that brand with being disappointed and unsatisfied. I'm sure there's probably some sort of Daddy-issue mixed in there as well as he was the one who usually did the errant shopping. He's since learned, and he doesn't bring home anything but Chef Boyardee.

I don't think I've ever spent so much time thinking about things I don't like. I generally try to focus on the positive. There aren't many brands that I categorically dislike.

I do avoid Windows and Windows-reliant products. Owning a Mac made this MUCH easier. I find that Windows is just the face that represents everything that's ever bothered me about computers. I think it may just be a victim of the times, though. There haven't been many non-Windows choices, and my appetite for technology has been growing since about birth. Clearly, there is no killer app and no perfect technology, so Windows simply lacked the ability to be perfect.

I really can't think of other brands I avoid. Maybe I'll go on an exploratory window-shopping trip to find more things I dislike.