SAY IT AIN'T SO, JOE

Now I know the economy is bad. I just read on the Internet today that the company that makes Twinkies and HoHos is on the brink of going under. Say it ain't so, Joe.

I can't imagine a world without Twinkies. This sweet, little treat has been an icon of generations of Americans. It has been a staple in millions of lunch bags over the years. It has been on fishing trips and hunting trips. I can only guess at the number of kids who munched on Twinkies around countless campfires.

It even found its way into the history of American jurisprudence. Who can  forget the famous "Twinkie defense" that got a defendant off on a murder charge? I don't remember if it was established in court just how many Twinkies one would have to eat in order to be acquitted. Maybe the judge and members of the jury were munching on Twinkies during breaks and were primed to accept such a farfetched plea.

The Internet article announcing the possible downfall of the Twinkie also reassured readers that help was on the way and that the Twinkie company would be saved. Maybe they're too sweet to fail, or something like that.

So I'll nervously await the final outcome of one of the great dramas of the early twenty-first century. It's a  little like the great Santa Claus dilemma. I believe. I believe. Long live the Twinkie.