>>>Wait - you've NEVER had a Twinkie or HoHo ??? And you call yourself American??
>>
>>Yes, never! That might be why I am 6' 7"! :)
>>
>>We had some great European style bakeries in San Francisco, when I was growing up. I find nothing like them today.
>
>Hey, that's true - about five years ago, I was looking for something to make a breakfast in a grocery somewhere in SF, and found something miraculous: bread that I could, without any second thoughts, call bread. It took me years to find it!

I still make jokes about European bread. Take a slice of European Bread, and raise it about two feet above the kitchen table. Drop it onto the tabletop. It will break the table! :)

Well, it will make a loud noise. One slice is like a meal, and the taste is outstanding.

I was in a German Bier Stube in San Francisco, one Friday evening, enjoying a Spaten, and got into a conversation with the customer sitting next to me. He was a German Baker, and for twenty years had the contract with United Airlines to supply dinner biscuits. He also made German style bread which he sold to the public, from his bakery in San Bruno. He was very upset, as he had just lost his contract with United. Wonder Bread had just offered .01 cents a biscuit less then he charged and United went with Wonder Bread.

Quality and enjoyment mean nothing when you are a profit center. Who cares about customers? Why should customers be given (they are paying) anything nice? After all, customers are stupid and should be treated like cattle going off to slaughter.