"One, Two, Three... *CRUNCH* Three."

My particular tastes have changed over the years, but a few things remain that I like now as much as I liked them then. One of these is the Tootsie Pop.

I like that they've kept the old-school design of the wrappers. That's awesome. In a culture that is slave to "the new," when companies retain symbols of the past, it makes me happy. I feel connected to the millions of children who have appreciated the confection before me.

Somebody put a bunch of leftover candy in the break room yesterday--including a handful of Tootsie Pops. Even though it is clearly not part of my diet, this morning I grabbed the raspberry one (always and only the raspberry one) and went back to my office.

My wrapper had a star on it.

Do any of you remember this? The myth of the "Indian" wrappers?

When I was growing up, I was informed by my associates and did readily believe that wrappers with an American Indian shooting an arrow at a star were either a) lucky, or b) could be redeemed for a free Tootsie Pop.

As it turns out, the cold, cruel winds of adulthood and the internets have disabused me of these ideas.

However, it's been more than two hours, and I can't bring myself to throw the wrapper away. It's right next to my keyboard.

I have a meeting in less than two hours. Something tells me that I will end up folding this wrapper into fourths and sticking it in the front pocket of my white shirt. I mean, who's to say that it isn't lucky? Isn't there a chance that, if nothing else, it will have the same effect as Dumbo's "magic" feather, and give me an extra psychological boost?

On a side note, I did actually try to count the number of licks it took me to get to the center. For some reason, I remember the number 286, but I'm not sure if that's right. I'm not sure exactly how many licks it would take.

The world may never know.