I Had an Existential Crisis over Tortilla Chips.

In which I was certain I was being punked. Or in an alternate universe.

Today was a typical Friday. Just me on my laptop adding the weekly food items into a virtual cart. To be honest, I’m pretty sure I can do this with my eyes closed. With four kids, three of them teenage boys, I could buy cardboard and stale potato chips and they’d still make it their mission to eat it all in four hours.

So things were clicking along just fine and then a thing happened. I had a moment. One where I asked myself, "Is this some weird Mandela effect I've never heard of?

See, the thing is that I always buy Juanita's Tortilla Chips--easily the best tortilla chips in the world. It’s the love she puts in them, you know? But today when I typed Juanita’s into the search bar… it wasn’t there. It was just GONE.

Now you’re thinking, that’s not all that weird. Maybe they don’t carry them anymore. Seems logical.

Except there on the screen were JUANTONIO’S Tortilla Chips. Juantonio?

AND THE BAG IS IDENTICAL TO JUANITA’S.

THE EXACT SAME.

Had it always been called Juantonio's and I just changed it to Juanita's in my head? I made my way to the half-eaten bag of tortilla chips I keep hidden in the back of the cabinets inside a brining pot. (Three teenage boys. Do you know what they do to a bag of tortilla chips in under ten minutes?)

And… and… and right there in big bold letters, it said JUANTONIO’S.

What was happening?

Where was Juanita?

After a few deep breathing exercises and eating my weight in cheese, I regrouped and did what any lost person does; I Googled.

And right there, at a different grocery store just down the street, I found:

Juanita and her tortilla chips.

The relief was quickly replaced by more questions:

WHO WAS THIS JUANTONIO?

IS THIS AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE?

WHERE AM I?

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE?

So, yeah, I think I had an existential crisis over tortilla chips.

But, for reals, one thing is true. Juanita and Juantonio know how to make a tortilla chip.

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My name is Sharon M. Peterson. I’m a wife, a mom of four (including two with autism), and I write romcoms that will make you laugh. Also, I’m tired.

Check out my romcoms HERE

And be on the lookout for The Do-Over, hitting bookstores across the US, on September 24th.