Confessions of a Jelly Tot Junkie

Hello. My name is Dan… and I’m addicted to Jelly Tots. I am caught in their sugary (and now 25% real fruit juicy) grasp. I often say that when I write, I write with a glass of coke and a bag of Jelly Tots by my side and this is true. I am never without a bag of them in my jacket pocket. I am an addict. A Jelly Tot Junkie, if you will. I can’t quite remember when such a simple sweet became an addiction for me. I think it started whilst I was in college, on a day when passing through Woolworths. I noticed that harmless looking yellow bag sitting on a shelf. It brought back memories of childhood- the days when children were rewarded with sweets and MacDonald’s. It was my Godmother who brought me Jelly Tots when I was young. I haven’t seen her in, well, more years than I dare count. But as soon as I saw the Jelly Tot packet it brought back parts of childhood to me. I remember very little of my childhood; if I sit and think for long and hard enough I do begin to recall certain events and places and faces- some hidden files recovered from a cobweb covered filing cabinet. I am still uncertain as to whether or not my childhood was a happy one because by the time I was old enough to realize things weren’t right we’d gone through all we could go through, and with a child’s blindness to the adult world I missed it all. So when I think back to childhood, I remember the upsetting things, the bad stuff, and worse the things I missed with a child’s eyes but with older eyes see all too clearly the meaning. But when I connect childhood to Jelly Tots- I am happy. I am reminded of the freedom of childhood, the simple pleasure derived from a simple, sugar soaked sweet. So now I cannot imagine myself without Jelly Tots, they have become a part of my character. I do not believe I could wean myself off them even if I choose too. I have heard people say that it’s the addict who chooses their addiction, and I’m glad to say mine are Jelly Tots. It’s healthier and cheaper than a heroin addiction.