So we're driving home from our swim meet last night, and my almost-seventeen-year-old tells me, "If we see a Pokémon, we have to stop!" To which my middle-aged self responded, "No way." Staring at her phone screen as we wound through a North Kirkland neighborhood, she wailed in protest when we "passed" one of the imaginary creatures, until she realized she "already had that one."
Trends are pretty hard to keep up with. But, if you've been under a rock all week or don't have any tweens, teens, or Millenials in your life, Pokémon Go is the trend du jour. To paraphrase another trend (the trending musical Hamilton), "if ya didn't know, now ya know."
The magic of games like Pokémon Go is that the imaginary characters can (on your phone) appear in a real environment, through the technology of GPS. Hurl that Poké-Ball at them, and they can be captured.
All of which is to say, you might be able to invite your tween, teen, or Millenial buddies to the Market with you this week because who knows what Pokémon might be lurking among the fresh fruits and vegetables? The pastured meats and cheeses? The ready-to-eat pies and breads and pasta? Certainly many of Pikachu's favorite foods have been spotted at our Market. Consider:
And while we're on the subject of trends, have you noticed the trend for mail-order snack boxes? My stepfather gets these, and I marvel at someone's marketing ingenuity. How we Americans do love things pre-packaged in individual servings for us. And to have them appear at our doorstep is even better!
But if you can find Pokémon at the Market, you can certainly also find snacks. And I don't just mean pre-made ones like cookies and pretzels and candies. I also mean berries and cherries. Fresh artisan breads that can be spread with rich cheeses. Cherry tomatoes to pop in your mouth. Tuna and beef jerky. Salsa.
So put down the 100-calorie bag of nuts or weird Oreo cracker-cookies, download Pokémon Go to your phone and make a Pokéstop at our Market this week! Real food, real snacks, real experience points.
