No holiday Peeps? Yet another COVID casualty

I heard from a friend in Dallas the other day. They're back in paper towel shortage mode there. They appear to be in decent supply here in Boston, but if you're committed to only using Bounty, the quicker picker-upper, you may be out of luck. I have a couple dozen rolls on hand, and I'd be happy to share with Joyce. But mailing off a bulky package of paper towels, sending them 1,761 miles cross-country, doesn't seem to make all that much sense. I may let her know that I will consider a trade if she can find me a package of Halloween Oreos - the ones with the orange filling and the jack-o'-lantern stamp on them. I've been on the lookout, but haven't found any around. Maybe I'll try the Shaw's in Copley. That's one place I haven't looked yet.

Halloween Oreos and candy corn (preferably when mixed in with pumpkins, even more preferably when mixed in with the full panoply of "Harvest Mix": bats, cats, moons, witches, ears of corn: all that sweet and waxy goodness!) are the two seasonal items I look for. (I don't have to look for Butterfingers. My sister Trish always gives those out. Of course, this year there probably won't be any trick-or-treating out her way, so I may need to buy my own bag, rather than cadge from her supply.)

While I am all about the Peeps when it comes to Easter, I'm not that into Peeps for other occasions.

Sure, I've picked up a package of snowmen or Christmas tree Peeps, or the Halloween Peeps. But they're not really my jam. 

Good thing, because this year, there won't be any Halloween-themed Peeps. Nor Christmas ones. No Valentine's Day Peeps, either. And I suppose this means that Just Born (makers of Peeps) won't be gearing up to make sure that we have classic Peeps chicks in green for St. Patrick's Day.

The Bethlehem, Pennsylvania-based company in April temporarily suspended the production of its candy brands. The suspension was done to protect the health and safety of their employees during the coronavirus pandemic, Just Born said in a statement to CNN.

The company said it resumed limited production in May after making changes in its plant to ensure employee safety.

"This situation resulted in us having to make the difficult decision to forego production of our seasonal candies for Halloween, Christmas and Valentine's Day in order to focus on meeting the expected overwhelming demand for Peeps for next Easter season, as well as our everyday candies," according to the company's statement. (Source: CNN)

When Just Born is running in full production mode, they produce 5.5 million Peeps every day. That's about 2 billion each year. Sure, that's only about six Peeps per American capita. But for those of us who do enjoy biting the occasional head off a marshmallow chick, a dent in their production hurts.

I am, of course, happy that the Peep-makers are back at work. And that things should be okay for next Easter. Because it's just not Easter for me personally until I have munched the head off of a Peep.

The deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. The unknown long-run health implications for survivors. The economic devastation. The pathetic, inadequate, and lethal national response. The politicization of what should be a straightforward health issue. The lives disrupted. The plans squelched. The anxiety and depression so many are experiencing. The loneliness. The uncertainty. Etc.

There are so many ghastly aspects to the pandemic, it seems ridiculous to waste any (virtual) ink on worrying about holiday Peeps. Yet here we are, with yet another small and trivial way in which normal life is diminished. 

As if 2020 couldn't get any worse. 

Talk about all trick, no treat.