Popcorn

I like popcorn. When we went to see Casino Royale (a flick I enjoyed so much, I'd go to see it again, and not just because, to my amazement, a current flick was actually showing in my area), they had samples (big honkin' canisters) of popcorn salt from Kernel Seasons; it was good enough that I ordered some from their web site, NoMoreNakedPopcorn (and yes, the name was catchy enough to remember all the way home, just as they intended). It made okay theater popcorn into Excellent Popcorn.

In my mind, there are only two kinds of popcorn worth mentioning: regular, with lots of butter and salt, and caramel. I would be reluctant to mention my reaction to caramel corn, except to say: Giant Sucking Sound. I love caramel popcorn. So, since we got a catalog from The Popcorn Factory, I thought What the Heck, and went to their site. After meandering around for a while, trying to find anything I could buy that did not include Cheddar (an abomination, in my mind), I found that they would sell paper bags of their stuff. Hey, cool. Two big bags of caramel popcorn. Check that off. Send it to me.

Um, we can't accept your abbreviation for your city, select one from the Approved List. You've got the freakin' ZIP CODE you morons, figure it out! I should be able to say Vatican City, Pluto, and the right zip code, and have it get here. But... okay. Here. Now, go order it.

Um, we need an email address so that we can send you confirmation of the order. Ah, crap. Okay. Here. Now, go order it.

Um, we need a ship date. Here's the next possible one. Type one in, or pick one from the calendar. So I typed one in. THATS NOT A VALID DATE. What, why not? Do it again. THAT'S NOT A VALID DATE. So I go to their calendar. Oh, look, the date I picked happened to be a Sunday. Well, duh, what do you think I'd want to do? You have a fifty percent chance of getting it right. But OKAY DAMMIT...I picked a Valid Date. Now, go....

Um... we need.....

Frack it. Click escape. Go look at other web sites.

Why can't everyone make ordering as simple as Amazon? Or use them as a front end for their ordering system? (I think this is actually what Microsoft was trying to push with their NET PASSPORT idea, but nobody trusted them enough to make it feasible. Amazon, though, I trust.)

Hmmm....wonder if they've got caramel corn?