Essay 1: Food Narrative: Danny Glynn

Stuck in a Kernel and Ready to Pop

When I was little I can remember sitting on the couch, eating my bed time snack, and begging my mom to let me stay awake so I could watch the rest of a movie. After begging for several minutes she allowed me to stay awake. Little did I know that me staying a wake to watch the rest of a Christmas movie would provide me with a memory that would last so long.

After my begging was over and I was able to sit contently on the couch for the rest of the movie, a scene came on. The scene was of a family in the movie dressed in their pajamas and sitting around their brick fireplace talking about their day. While the family was talking the mother walked into the kitchen, grabbed the bag of popcorn kernels, poured the kernels into a greased pot, and went back to talking with her family. When the popcorn finished popping is when I began to get confused.

When the popcorn was ready the mother went to her sewing box, grabbed some thread, ran it through the eye of her needle, and began stringing the popcorn onto the piece of thread. This confused me, I never saw anyone eat popcorn like that before so I asked my mom what the mother on the movie was doing. She explained to me that some families have a tradition of decorating their Christmas trees and mantles with popcorn for the holiday season. When she got done explaining that to me I asked her if we could start doing that for Christmas, and a few days later my mom and I popped a few bags of popcorn, ran the pieces onto a piece of thread, and decorated the Christmas tree with popcorn. Although decorating with popcorn did not become a tradition for my family, when I see popcorn I can always picture my mom and I sitting around the kitchen table, stringing the popcorn, and wrapping the strands around the Christmas tree.

In elementary school popcorn became one of my favorite foods. On my way home from school I would be sitting on the bus with one thing on my mind and it was popcorn and only popcorn. As the bus would get closer to my house my mouth would begin to water. I could imagine the buttery smell of the freshly popped popcorn as I walk through the front doors. When I finally reached my house, I jumped off the bus as fast as I could a sprinted through my yard racing only myself to the door. When I opened the door the smell was exactly as I imagined, and I began to indulge in the vast sea of butter and popcorn

As a child I have many memories that are related to popcorn, but not only does thinking of popcorn remind me of memories of my childhood, but it is also a food I can compare myself to and find many similarities. Before popcorn can be popcorn it starts as just a small kernel on a corn cob. This one kernel that seems so small in size and dull is actually filled with something unexpected. When the kernel is stripped from the cob thrown into a bag mixed with butter and other kernels it is getting ready to come out of its shell. Then the bag of popcorn is finally put into the microwave, the kernel begins to warm up and it begins to come out from behind its shield and merge together with the butter and other kernels.

I am the same way in that when I find myself in an unfamiliar place where I do not know many people I sometimes find myself being timid, but after awhile when I begin to get used to the faces I will slowly begin to show my real personality. I love to meet new people, but sometimes it just takes me a little longer to get used to my surroundings. The kernel being on the cob and hiding what it has to show on the inside is similar to the way that I act when I am around a group of people that I am unfamiliar with.

Popcorn comes in all different flavors, whether you like your popcorn drowned in butter, covered in caramel, full of powdered cheese, or just the old fashion kettle corn, everyone has there favorite kind. When someone is eating popcorn they are most likely going to try and find their favorite kind, but if their favorite is not available they have to settle for something else. Choosing my favorite kind of popcorn has always been hard for me because I find almost every kind irresistible, and choosing the people I like to associate with is the same way. I have all different kinds of friends, whether they are sarcastic, laid-back, or comical. I do not have a particular preference of what kind of friends I have, but usually the mood I am in decides on whom I opt to hang around with that day, because, believe it or not, there are even some days when caramel corn does not sound good.

Popcorn is a food that reminds me of my past and personality, but it is also a food that is very rich in American tradition and events. When a town fair or picnic comes around one of the most popular stands is always the kettle corn stand. As soon as you pull your car into the parking spot, hop out of your car, and begin walk toward the fair, the sweet mouth watering smell of the kettle corn popping already ready begins to come over you.

Another place where popcorn has been made a famous snack is the movie theater. I have heard this phrase many times “There is nothing better than movie theater popcorn.” For some reason popcorn never seems as buttery or as warm than when you are sitting back in your seat and only focused on two things, the movie and keeping your hand on a steady track from the bag to your mouth.

Popcorn also seems to be a necessity at a good old fashion American baseball game. In almost every ballpark in America when the seventh inning stretch comes along everyone knows what is going to happen next. The organ begins to play, and all of the spectators begin to stand and sing the words to “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” Then the part “buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks” comes along and everyone gets that craving, and after the song is over the vendors come back out and continue selling their peanuts and Cracker Jacks.