Pack It In

I have a sneaking suspicion (aren't they all?) that some companies put exorbitant prices on their merchandise because, well, if people will pay 40 bucks for something worth 5, they'll just as likely pay 80.

It all comes up because of something I saw on Amazon. Now, I am a fan of Yeti drink tumblers. I have one filled with berries, a grapefruit wedge, ice, and seltzer at my side all day around the house. And I have another Yeti for hot drinks. When I first got it, I thought it might be a problem to put my hot tea in there, because it couldn't be reheated in the microwave.  But...it never needs reheating! You put a hot drink in the Yeti, and it stays hot until the cows come home.

Which is at about 8 or 8:30, these days.

So, yes, it's Yeti for your hot and cold drink needs, certainly. 

Available in 19 fashionable colors

But what stopped me cold on Amazon was seeing this "Daytrip Packable Lunch Bag" they're hawking now. As a longtime lunchbagger, I took my sammy, chips, and TastyKake to school for 12 years in brown paper sacks, and later I hauled the same lunches to work in a succession of insulated lunch bags. I would put a cold bottle of Coke or ginger ale in there to keep everything cool til lunchtime. Those totes would last a couple of years and then the handle would fall off or something. I promise you before any grand jury that I never spent more than ten simoleons for one of them.

I have to tell you right now that even if I had Scrooge McDuck money, I would not pay you the asking price - $104! - for the Yeti lunchbag. There's no way it's going to keep a salami sandwich any better than the el cheapo model.

If people buy these for their kids, I predict an upswing in lunch thefts across the land.  Not for the contents, but for the bags themselves.

Maybe I'm crazy, I don't know.