Mashed Potatoes

I was channeling my inner Nancy the other night when the phone rang. Normally I check to see who's calling, but it's usually one of the girls or my husband. So, I blind answered the call.
The young woman asked me if I had a few minutes to answer some questions about food shopping and I would get $5.00 in return. FIVE WHOLE DOLLARS! I thought, what the heck, I can donate the money to my MS Walk fund and so I said yes. She asked me about instant mashed potatoes, have I bought any in the last 6 months and yes I had. Then she asked me to name instant mashed potato brands and my mind went BLANK. Uh, I have Idahoan in the pantry, that's all I can think of. That's the only brand I buy. "Have I heard of Betty Crocker's Instant Mashed Potatoes?" Oh yes, I have (dumb brain). "How about Butter Buds?" Sure, I've heard of them. "Have you ever used a store brand?" Can't say I have, but I've seen them on the shelves. And we went on and on like that for a few minutes.

The young woman picked out three for me to further review, Idahoan, cuz that's what I use...the store brand and Betty Crocker. Rating them from 0-10, 10 being the highest.
"it is a good value" "The Idahoan?" I say 10, "Betty Crocker" I say 7, "store brand" I say 3, because I really have NO CLUE. The questions go on and on, for 30 minutes. I did tell you that I got FIVE WHOLE DOLLARS for doing this, right? I have to tell you that the poor woman had to suffer through my laughter at some of the questions when she asked me if the potatoes added value to holiday gatherings...THEY'RE POTATOES, how can potatoes add value?

Anyway, I got the check in the mail on Saturday. Whoo hoo.