Granola Bandits Eat This

I am what I have always referred to as a 'Granola Bandit'. I like oats. I grew up eating oatmeal for breakfast, every day, all winter long. In Montreal, winter lasted 6 months, November to April. Sometimes it snowed in May and one time I remember on June 2nd. That day was unforgettable for me. Girls had to wear uniforms to school. A navy blue tunic, white blouse and knee socks. Come the last month of our school year we could wear what we wanted to. That year, the last month, started on June 2nd. It snowed. I was so disappointed because at that point I was in high school and wanted to wear this cute dress, but was unable to because of the snow.

Okay, back to oats. In the summer time we ate boxed cereals, or pop tarts. I didn't really care for either. As a teenager I would make my own breakfast. I started just pouring uncooked rolled oats in a bowl, with a sprinkle of sugar, cover it in milk and start chewing. I thought it was delicious. Almost as good as Pablum, which I loved and can still taste just thinking about it. One morning Mom saw me eating the raw rolled oats and was not happy. She said they weren't good for me. She grew up on a dairy farm and that was what the cows ate. At least that's why I thought she was disturbed by it.

At age 19, I went off to tour Europe. A friend and I hitchhiked our way through Belgium, Germany, Austria, Italy, and Switzerland. We had visas to visit Czechoslovakia, but our thumbs got us there on May 1st, and they would not let us in on that day...the day they had a big military parade. We also went to Yugoslavia but didn't dare hitchhike across that border so we took a train. Another story could be told about that train ride and the subsequent cruise down the coast line. That part of the journey has nothing to do with eating oats though, so I won't write about that here.

About 10 days into the tour we made it to Switzerland. Ah, breakfast at a youth hostel and I was served Muesli. Raw oats! Yes, with added fruit and nuts. I was thinking it was my vindication. That I was not amiss for liking to eat raw rolled oats!

So why am I posting about this now. I had been wondering if it was the eating of these raw oats had anything to do with the onset of Multiple Sclerosis. It seemed to me that eating Muesli was a food mostly eaten by Northern Europeans and MS is a condition mostly attributed to people of that heritage. I did some research which of course leads me nowhere that could possibly tie my thought processes into that choice of food fare.

It did however, lead me to a blurb about the term 'granola bandit'. That led me to an old character by the name of Wavy Gravy who was a member of the hippy trippy 60's. His character still survives as does he, but by the 80's he was so irked by the political offerings for President that he held a rally at the White House on November 4th in 1980. And so he created an option for the ballot.

Nobody
Nobody For President!
Nobody's Perfect!
Nobody Keeps All Promises!
Nobody Should Have That Much Power!
Nobody Makes Apple Pie Better Than Mom!
Nobody Will Love You When You're Down And Out!
Who's In Washington Right Now Working To Make The World A Safer Place? Nobody!