Mental Sampler 36

Many years ago, my brother introduced the kids to Trader Joe’s cat cookies for people, and they immediately became a shopping trip staple.

When we dropped the kids off at college this year, we swung by their local Trader Joe’s for cat cookies and Bamba, and they were sold out of both. Panic! They grabbed other snacks, and I said I would pick up these treats at our local Trader Joe’s before our October visit. That way, I would be sure they would have them.

While Bamba was quickly back on the shelves, there continued to be a blank space where cat cookies should be. Every time we asked about it, the person would check the computer and tell us they would be back in stock X days later. We would return, the shelf would be empty, and we’d be told there was a delay, and now it was Y says later. They have not been discontinued. They’re just having trouble getting them in stock.

We tried up until the trip, tried random Trader Joe’s along the way, and tried up in their college town one last time. No cat cookies.

I haven’t given up. The Cat Cookie Crisis of 2025 has only made me more determined to keep at this until I can present tubs of cat-shaped cookies to the kids. Making me a hero.

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The kids also taught me the term “rubberducking.” It comes from computer science, where coders are encouraged to “explain their code, step by step, in natural language—either aloud or in writing—to reveal mistakes and misunderstandings.” And they do this to a rubber duck or other inanimate object.

I needed it explained because a person said to me, “I’m not a rubber duck!” And I didn’t understand the reference. It’s when another person uses YOU as their rubber duck. They’re not telling you so you understand them better. They’re using you as a rubber duck to talk through their problems so they can hear them outside their head. And the point the person made is that humans absorb emotions, rubber ducks do not, so talking at someone for a half hour while listing out all of your issues is not a productive conversation. It’s rubber ducking.

So now you know, too.