Tag Archives: anticipation

If you’ve been in a department store lately, the decorated trees, garland and gift wrap have made you acutely aware that Christmas is practically here.  I almost fell over when I heard the piped-in Christmas music playing in Macy’s a couple nights ago. I wasn’t the only shopper who was shocked—horrified, really– by the prematurity of the music, which has, to the best of my recollection, traditionally been held back until Black Friday.  I just wasn’t ready.  I love Christmas and would like to anticipate it, but Macy’s stole that from me.

My thoughts quickly went to food, as they almost always do.  I pondered the seasonality of certain products—and the appeal of anticipating their arrival.

It was that very same day that McDonald’s rolled-out the legendary McRib sandwich nationwide.  Until then, the barbeque sauce-covered, molded pork specialty has been available only in certain regional pockets, which has driven fans to seek it out obsessively.  Not only do they travel great distances to enjoy the McRib’s unique deliciousness, they have created websites to track its (until now) relatively sparse availability.  (Consider that there are more than 300 Facebook pages that are dedicated to the product!)  While the product is now served nationwide, that’s only the case through December 5^th.  Read more...