by Caitlin Fletcher

America is going crazy. People are rushing to the store to pay 14 dollars for something that usually costs two. Why? All because products that have been present on American shelves since 1930 will soon be gone for good. That’s right, after 82 years, Hostess Brands has filed for bankruptcy, and it is expected they will soon be closing their doors.

Naturally, this has caused an uproar in America. People have rushed to the store to buy boxes upon boxes of their favorite Hostess snack. People are becoming traumatized when they think of the possibility of never tasting a Twinkie again.

I recently saw a picture of a man walking out of a store carrying three boxes of Hoho’s, three boxes of Hostess cupcakes and six boxes of Twinkies. According to the Los Angeles Times, Twinkies are being sold on Ebay for thousands of dollars per box. Why is America so crazy that they would buy a small snack cake for that much money? I find myself wondering if I would pay 14 dollars for my favorite food, that usually costs much less, if I thought I would never be able to eat it again. I don’t know. Maybe I would, but probably not.

To some people, the snack cakes offer a sense of nostalgia, a look back on better times. Our parents grew up eating Wonder Bread and snacking on Twinkies. Many of the people who are paying for these products are adults. Maybe they are trying to prolong another change they know will come. Never in their lives have they gone into a grocery store without seeing loaves of Wonder Bread sitting on the shelves, and neither have we. So many things have changed over the course of their life times that maybe they hoped something as little as a Twinkie could stay the same.

The movie theaters are different from when they were kids, the schools are different, the neighborhoods are different. So many things have changed, maybe they wanted one thing to stay the way it was?

I’m not saying a Twinkie should be a constant in someone’s life. It’s just one of those things. As I spoke with my mom about it, we agreed that it was sort of sad that a company that has been around for so long is closing it’s doors.

At my house we use Wonder Bread. Now I find myself thinking about what my mom will buy next week at the grocery store. To me, most wheat breads are gross. A lot of the time you can’t find it without nuts or with decent crust. That’s the only thing I eat on a regular basis. I do not really like Twinkies and I never really eat any of the other Hostess stuff. I’m not even sure why I decided to write this article. It doesn’t affect me very much. It’s not a monumental thing, but it is another thing that just can’t manage to stay the same. The times are changing and have been for a long time. This is just another thing that is changing with it.

Even though I do not eat any of the Hostess snacks frequently, I guess I liked knowing that I could walk into QuikTrip and grab a Hoho if I wanted. As America’s newest change comes, it seems as though it is time to say goodbye to one of America’s oldest brands.