A lot of things get a bad rap. The fruit on the bottom of the stack. Spiders who just try to do their job of killing bugs. The spinach that kids detest, but frankly doesn't taste that bad.
But what takes the cake - or cookie, I should say - for most hated, underrated, overshadowed concept in existence would be the oatmeal raisin cookie.
It tastes quite delicious, which chunky cinnamon oats that complement perfectly with the tart but sweet taste of the shriveled grape entities known as raisins. So why does every kid, and adult, avoid it like the plague?
The answer is simple. Oatmeal raisin cookies are the lowly cousin of the much hyped, much loved, much nostalgic, chocolate chip cookie.
But wait. That complicates things further. For while chocolate chip cookie certainly does taste like the golden nectar from heaven itself, there are a quite a lot whose tastes would suit more to oatmeal raisin cookies. Health nuts, for one. Those who dislike overly sweet tastes. People who understand the majestic beauty that cinnamon brings to the world.
So why, why, is the poor little oatmeal cookie so hated? What would move innocent children and experienced adults to alienate it and dismiss it like it was worthless?
For me, it takes like disappointment. It tastes like getting acceptance into a top college, a top job, a top anything, and having it disappear before your eyes.
Imagine this scenario. You're starving, tired, and annoyed at the world and that Spanish teacher who gave you the wrong instructions for the project. You trudge to the cafeteria, lunch in your hand. When you sit down, you open the lunchbox to be met with another peanut butter and jelly sandwich that you swear is making you gradually become allergic to peanuts. Moving a bit, you hear a jingle. A feeling of euphoria bubbles inside you as you eagerly dig your hands into your pockets. The euphoria bursts when you emerge victorious, with two shiny quarters in your sweaty palms. You run to the lunch line in pursuit of that holy grail that you know will ease all your troubles. Without skipping a beat, you grab it, clatter the coins onto the surprised lunch lady, and dive back to your table to indulge in your success. You take a giant bite out of the cookie, expecting the chewy taste of the dough mingled with the sweet warm chocolate chips melting in your mouth.
Instead, you find that same oaty shiveled-grapey taste that you beared. At least, you used to bear.
Now, anger rises up inside you, pushing away all the happiness and alacrity you had before. Betrayal is what first comes into your mind. The sneaky oatmeal cookie hid deviously among the chocolate chip. You want to throw the cookie against the wall, stomp on it, torture it with any method available to a 8 year old. But you can't. A cookie is a cookie, and you did just spend half your allowance on it.
So, with bitter repulsion, you take another bite. It tastes like when you received your first F. Another bite. Tastes like when you broke your arm. One last bite. Every disappointment, every failure, every negative emotion you ever experience floods over you.
This seems pretty familiar, right? Although this may be a bit of an exaggeration, the fact certainly still stands; oatmeal raisin cookies are so hated because they are the epitome of the shattered dreams of children. Getting a oatmeal raisin cookie when expecting a chocolate chip cookie is like when a fish sees the bait, and ends up either leaving unsatisfied or dead. It's like promising someone a pony but ending up giving them, well, I guess an oatmeal raisin cookie.
Chocolate chip cookies taste like childhood, but oatmeal raisin taste like wrenching disappointment. As long as the chocolate chip cookie continues to exist, the oatmeal raisin will always be despised and rejected.
