9 February 2008: I Love Dale Jr

I love the Midwest. On a recent drive to a friend's engagement party, I was at a gas station, waiting for a friend to use the restroom. I was distracted by products on a lower shelf by the attendant. Half price Christmas candy. Gas stations always increase the price, so I was engaged, to try to capture the price. Suddenly, my eyes caught something red. Right now, it is almost Valentine's Day. Red not only captured my attention by used my cultural association to indicate it was a Valentine's product. Next, I saw a square box with a bit of a raised edge of cardboard, as it it was meant to be hung at Walmart. This looked like a box that candy is in. However, what caught my eye next was not usually on a box of chocolates. It looked like a picture. I picked up the box because I didn't recognize it. There, in curly 8 year old cursive font read "I (insert picture of heart) Dale Jr." It was for Nascar! My earliest memory of Nascar is of changing the channel. The people in my hometown who followed Nascar were those with thick MO accents, people in lower socio-economic circles, and who drank a lot of beer. I did not associate them with the heart and love feelings of Valentine's Day. That is what made me so intrigued by this box. I was surprised. The code did not match for me! And here I was in a Midwestern gas station in Michigan with a Dale Jr. box of chocolates. The code matched Michigan, but not I!