My brother and I shared a best friend when we were little named Steve VanWinkle. 

He’s a great guy.  I have a million memories with him as well as a little inside knowledge. 

That being said, his parents always had the best snacks.  Pringles, Burritos, these local tacos called Tino’s Tacos…they were the bomb. 

It was a well-known neighborhood fact that when his parents were at work, his place was the house to snack. 

Games were at our house because we had the giant yard but snack time, treats, food?  They were at his place. 

Because his parents were at work in the summer it was an understood rule that we didn’t have to knock to enter, just “come on in!”  So, we’d rush in, possibly say, “Hi!” then promptly raid the cupboards and fridge.  

The weird part was that the snacks at his place always tasted better. 

My parents had snacks too.  It’s not like the only place we’d find Bugles was at Steve’s home. But, for some reason, it just was better over there.

I’d eat anything.   Imitation Crabs sticks by the dozen, girl scout cookies, Mystery Dips in Tupperware, anything I could get at.  Looking back, just exploring cupboards in a kitchen that wasn’t mine was half the fun.  It was like the “Goonies” movie, where the treasure hunt was as much the experience as the jewels.

So, it should come as no surprise that when I was looking through the shelves and drawers at my clinic today and ran into a coworker’s secret stash, I was like a kid again. 

Other People’s Food (OPF) is just plain… BETTER.   I don’t know why.  It just is. 

I giggled like a kid as I vacuumed down her Sun Chips and dude?!   Have you tried Cookie Butter yet?  Insane!  There was even an entire bag of shelled pistachios.  I mean, the challenging work was even done for me!

I mentioned to my buddy Luke the idea of OPF as we’ve come to call it and how it just straight up, tastes better.  Through a mouthful of pistachios he told me, “Of coursh it doesh… everybody knowsh that.”

I hadn’t realized this was an actual “life fact” before now and I was rather shocked.

It shouldn’t surprise me though.  It’s common knowledge that kids like OPT way better than their own.   Other People’s Toys is no longer even a hypothesis or theory.   Modern science reclassified OPT as a common “Parenting Law” a decade or so ago and is constantly being re-proven again and again in the field. 

I recall my twin girls playing with a dollhouse at their friend Aly’s house in Omaha one summer.  You couldn’t get them out of Aly’s room for four days.  Santa figured this out and brought it to them that winter where in 3 years I believe they possibly played with it only once.  I could be wrong though, it’s completely possible that all they actually did was throw a matchbox car at it where it was promptly stuck behind the bed. 

OPT is real and now too, is my idea of OPF.  

I think OPF is most enjoyed during the Holidays, hence this article’s original holiday release.  I know around Christmas, y’all will be out enjoying creme cheese glopped with pepper jelly on a Triscuit as “cultural food,” so enjoy.  Hell, you didn’t have to make it.   Smokies in BBQ sauce?  Cheese ball? 

“Oh, your cheese ball is delicious, you’ve got to get me the recipe.” 

For what?   Have you ever made a cheese ball on a Wednesday in July?   

37 cookies last night?  Only because it’s at your friend’s house.   OPF is true “food for thought” (grandpa pun intended).  

If nothing else, OPF will give you a sly smile or chuckle at your next house party.  

I like to imagine that the idea of OPF is actually a gateway term to a better life.  

Use it as a gift from me to you, that lets you make better decisions and appreciate another reason it’s good to have friends.

Take it as a compliment when your kid’s friends raid your house and understand that the favor is being returned when they are away.

If there is anything VanWinkle taught me all those years ago, it’s to enjoy the fruits and bounty of your friends to the maximum, because things with friends is almost always better!