2008 Woodie Awards
Hoarding Chocolates and Other Sins
Sarah Rinko
Issue date: 4/2/08 Section: Opinion
I miss chocolate. If there's one negative judgment that I make against Thailand, it's against Thai chocolate. It tastes bad, or at least it doesn't taste like any other "chocolate" I've ever had. This makes it dangerous for fellow study abroad students who receive care packages from their family. The scent of American chocolate makes the rest of our noses and ears perk up, and as soon as we hear the obligated "does anyone want some?" we cry yes and eat all that we can. It's true. I've seen people eat half a box of someone else's candy. It's not our fault; it's the deprivation that does it to us. So when I received an unexpected package from my sister and read that the custom declaration on the outside said "chocolate candy," I slipped the thing under my desk and pretended to ignore it for the rest of the day.
But as soon as I got home after school, I ran upstairs, locked my door, and tore my way through tape, cardboard, and packing peanuts. I ripped open the first candy package I grabbed on to: a bag of Hershey's kisses. Usually I think they're too sweet, but this time I desperately dug out handful after handful-no exaggeration-and let the discarded wrappers and paper ribbons strew across the bed and floor. But as the sludgy taste of too-much-chocolate thickened on my tongue, and as I felt the sugary grit already start to gnaw away at my teeth, I knew before nausea set in that my stomach regretted my greediness. To my chagrin, I recalled how the day before I'd tried unsuccessfully to define the word "glutton" to a university student studying English. I thought to myself that if he saw me now hunched over my care package about to hurl, I'd only have to raise one hand and say, "glutton: exhibit A."
The most shaming thing of all is how a simple and insignificant thing like chocolate can turn people, even if for a split second, so greedy and thoughtless. Yet, how barbaric and genuine our reactions were. Despite being raised in a family that had more than enough, despite being a Christian and sincerely memorizing for myself that I should "store up treasures in heaven," somewhere deep down that ancient, primitive voice is still screaming to take the best for ourselves and run. But who cares, it's only chocolate, right?
But as soon as I got home after school, I ran upstairs, locked my door, and tore my way through tape, cardboard, and packing peanuts. I ripped open the first candy package I grabbed on to: a bag of Hershey's kisses. Usually I think they're too sweet, but this time I desperately dug out handful after handful-no exaggeration-and let the discarded wrappers and paper ribbons strew across the bed and floor. But as the sludgy taste of too-much-chocolate thickened on my tongue, and as I felt the sugary grit already start to gnaw away at my teeth, I knew before nausea set in that my stomach regretted my greediness. To my chagrin, I recalled how the day before I'd tried unsuccessfully to define the word "glutton" to a university student studying English. I thought to myself that if he saw me now hunched over my care package about to hurl, I'd only have to raise one hand and say, "glutton: exhibit A."
The most shaming thing of all is how a simple and insignificant thing like chocolate can turn people, even if for a split second, so greedy and thoughtless. Yet, how barbaric and genuine our reactions were. Despite being raised in a family that had more than enough, despite being a Christian and sincerely memorizing for myself that I should "store up treasures in heaven," somewhere deep down that ancient, primitive voice is still screaming to take the best for ourselves and run. But who cares, it's only chocolate, right?
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