The Snyder’s Gap

The existence of pretzels has bothered me for quite some time.

Invented in the 6th or 7th century in an area of the world that would eventually develop National Socialism pretzels remain popular to this day. Just why this bland and tasteless treat has survived for over 1,400 years when other, more tasty, options like fingernails or corn nuts exist is a question that I’ve pondered for longer than is probably healthy. The same could be said for National Socialism but that remains outside the scope of this particular piece.

Now I’m certain that pretzels were the bees’ knees back when cholera and typhus were making regular rounds and a bowl of gruel was considered to be a tasty meal. Pretzels provided a decent source of calories and sodium and, as a bonus, could double as a loofah during a peasant’s monthly bath. These days, however, we have loofahs and other sources of calories that don’t taste like a lightly salted femur. So why do pretzels fill almost a quarter of any snack aisle these days?

My first theory revolved around the idea that pretzels represented a form of penance left over from the Middle Ages, much like praying the rosary, and that eating them provided consumers a way to atone for their sins. Unfortunately, after a cursory amount of research, this theory was quickly debunked.

Slightly discouraged but not to be deterred I developed an alternate and much more viable theory: People continue to eat pretzels because the opportunity cost of trying another snack is too great. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept of opportunity cost the gist of it is that there is a loss of potential gain from other alternatives when one particular alternative is chosen.

To read more just click through to The Snyder’s Pretzel Gap on Medium!

About the Author

derekbremer Prior to his life as a stay at home father Derek spent more than a decade performing public relations and marketing functions for financial consulting firms and found the job to be precisely as exciting as it sounds. When not tending to his wife or daughter Derek enjoys subjecting the public to his unique take on fatherhood, travel and animal husbandry. He has been published in Scary Mommy, Sammiches and Psych Meds, The Good Men Project, HowToBeADad, Red Tricycle, RAZED, HPP and the Anthology "It's Really Ten Months Special Delivery: A Collection of Stories from Girth to Birth.