I was waiting in the Newark airport terminal for my flight back to San Jose to board. I had arrived early, since it was the Friday of Memorial Day weekend, so I didn't know how long it would take to get to the airport, or how long security would take. It turned out that neither took long at all. So there I was, trying to relax and pass the time on the most uncomfortable chairs know to mankind. Part of my flying ritual involves eating M&Ms, the peanut variety. I thought that perhaps I could burn a few minutes by wandering to the gift shop and buying my bag of M&Ms. Since it's a long flight, and I planned to begin eating them while still waiting for the plane to board, I purchased the large package of M&Ms, the next size above the "King-sized". It comes in a tyvek-like plastic bag.

I then wandered back, sat down, and began opening my bag of M&Ms. For some reason, this bag had been super-sealed at the M&M factory, and no amount of gentle pulling and prodding was going to open it. I began to apply a little more force, but I had visions in my mind of the bag completely ripping open, so I still attempted to be very careful. This turned out to be a wonderful way to pass the time; rarely is the event of opening a bag of candy considered to be time-consuming.

I started to feel like an idiot. I was spending several minutes struggling against a piece of plastic designed to be opened by child, and I just wasn't making headway. The only option left to me was to apply more force; I was not going be defeated at this stage. I pulled a little harder; the bag wouldn't give. A little more, a little more...

*PHVOOF!* The bag instantly ripped open and the force propelled the contents into the air. I heard a gasp beside me as a beautiful prism of color arched before me, and dozens of peanut M&Ms covered the floor over the entire concourse. The candy coated the floor for 20 feet in front of me, intermingled with a hundred other travellers waiting for the same flight.

All I could do was sit there and laugh uncontrollably.