I am becoming semi-obsessed with Orbit gum.
I’ve never really been a gum person, but I grabbed a pack of their Mint Mojito flavor while waiting at the Target checkout a couple weeks ago and it was fantastic: not sickly sweet or punishingly minty, but a nice minty flavor with an undercurrent of lime.
Since then — because I have yet to find that flavor again — I have tried Citrusmint (good but too baby aspirin-tasting to be great), Lemon-Lime (Gatorgum-esque!), and Sweet Mint (my new favorite; it tastes like candy canes).
What is your checkout line impulse buy? Gum? Trashy magazines?
22 May 2007 at 5:16 pm
My impulse buy is those little pilsbury and betty crocker cook books.
Then, I wonder why I have a weight problem, and a cook book collection that would rival a libraries.
22 May 2007 at 6:25 pm
Ooh, I like me some Eclipse Polar Ice gum. My friend Dave popped one of the Chiclet-like pieces in his mouth one day and said, “Ooh, Violent.” So it’s heretofore known as Violent Gum. One day, he said, “My gum’s just not violent enough lately.” Turned out he was buying peppermint by mistake.
But I always have Violent Gum on me, so my checkout line impulse purchase is the occassional issue of Cosmo. It just doesn’t get any trashier and vapid!
22 May 2007 at 6:37 pm
I admit, I tend to pick up those mom-magazines, like Good Housekeeping or Family Circle (to which, I confess, I used to have a subscription).
22 May 2007 at 6:47 pm
Sine I do most of my grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s ande there are no trashy magazines to pick up (because I totally would), but impulse buy tends to be a bar of chocolate.
22 May 2007 at 6:58 pm
At the (one and only) NYC TJ’s, the wait is so long to check out, I probably put a good $20+ of impulse buys in my cart, just because I am standing there staring at them for SO LONG. Seriously, I end up with chocolate, beef jerky, fruit leather; you name it.
I should really write a post on the NYC TJ’s because it is so crazy. I have to go there with Dave, so that he can get in line the minute we get in the door and I can go do the shopping while he stays in line. And I still end up waiting with him for the last 15 or so minutes.
22 May 2007 at 7:04 pm
It can get crazy here, too. There are two in the city – the one we go to is in South of Market and has a pretty good sized garage. The other one has a smaller parking lot and there is literally a line of cars down the street for a parking spot. There is a guy who stands at the entrance to the parking lot and tells people where to park. Once you get inside, everyone is seriously cranky. Needless to say, I don’t shop at that Trader Joe’s unless I have to. I hear that the Trader Joe’s in Daly City (hich is just outside San Francisco) is huge and un-croded. I am thinking of beginning to shop there.
22 May 2007 at 7:05 pm
By the way, the w key on my laptop is broken so I only get a W half the time I press it, hence all the weird spelling errors above.
23 May 2007 at 10:44 am
I have a serious Orbit habit. And I don’t feel a damn bit guilty about it either, because my dentist encourages her patients to chew it. It has crazy little enzymes in it that eat the bacteria off your teeth.
I haven’t tried the Mint Mojito, though. The Sweet Mint is my very favorite. My girls like the Orange one, though.
And I also buy way too many trashy magazines. Our local library has a huge table in the downstairs lobby that is for people to drop off magazines they are done with. The other day, I got a Cosmo, a Good Housekeeping, a Family Circle, an Elle, a couple of Martha Stewarts, and a Glamour. The oldest one was from last month. Oh! And my husband found two Buffy novels! That was a good library day :)
Amber
23 May 2007 at 11:01 am
The next time I find the Mint Mojito flavor, I’ll mail one to you.
I flew on Northwest once, like, 5 years ago, I think, and I evidently racked up enough frequent flier miles that every year or so, they send me this “quick! use up your miles before they expire! here, sign up for free magazines!” and I end up with subscriptions to a bizarre array of magazines, like The Economist, The Advocate, and Latina. If only I were a gay Latina economist, I’d be all set.
23 May 2007 at 3:47 pm
I’ve never seen Mint Mojito… time to move back to NYC. I am a fan of the Cinnamint, which is seriously out of character for me. I am a traditional peppermint kind of gal. I love that Orbit gum has good staying power.
My impluse buy tends toward the Raffaello – coconut cousin to the Ferrero Rocher. delish!