Why drink water when you can drink Topo Sabores?

The other day I needed to run to the store and pick up a few things, and I dragged the kids and my Mom out of the house with me. I'd already been to both of the stores down the street—WinCo and Fresh and Easy & love them both. But neither of them have that Kraft pre-sliced snack cheese. Not for sandwiches. For crackers. And yes, I realize that it's not economical to purchase pre-sliced cracker cheese and that in fact it's downright lazy and silly but I don't care.

So I'm dragging my family to the other side of town to buy expensive, pointless cheese and scouting out a normal store like Vons or Albertsons or Ralph's or Stater Brothers - when I saw it!

Cardenas!

I had no clue what Cardenas was, nor have I ever been to a supermarket with a Spanish name. But why should I go to mundane stores all the time? Why not try something new? So I drag the family into Cardenas and it turns out to be beautiful! The walls are painted with breathtaking murals. Oompa music is being blasted at you from Heaven above. The signs are written in Spanish first with English below in tiny letters. The product labels are written in Spanish, not English. The aisles are named in Spanish and not English. What an adventure!

I never did find my cheese, but I did find some cotija for my frijoles. And the prices were Godawful. (They do carry some amazing tortilla chips, though - the kind you'd expect to be served at a Mexican restaurant.) I had a hard time finding cat gato food, but I finally located some in the "comida de perro" aisle. Against my better judgement I picked up four bottles of Topo Sabores orange soda. I was giddy with the lust for novelty! I'd always seen people drinking these things on Spanish soap operas while skipping through the dial and well, they just looked so enticing.


I sat in front of the Survivor screen, as it's called when Survivor is on, and popped open one of those bad suckers. I took a sip and thought hmmm... okay... quite sweet but wow, this is fun! Half way through I had to stop. I've been drinking diet soda for so long I'd forgotten that one can actually get full from full-sugar soda! Then I felt a little queasy.

But hey, I was proud of myself for trying something new. Next time you head out to the store ask yourself if you want value and convenience, or if you'd be better served by a dose of Cardenas and Topo Sabores!