Frustration Station

I'd planned to write about this sign I see when in my local Ben & Jerry's indulging my children's love of a 99cent soft ice cream cone. It's a picture of a big frothy chocolate drink concoction, and it reads: Face your frustrations, and eat them. Or something like that. I have to admit, the first time I saw it, I thought: "That's a great idea!" I'd had a frustrating day, after all, and nothing sounded quite so good as a big frothy chocolate sensation, I mean milk shake.
Then I imagined the sickly-sweet stomach ache I'd have when I was done with eating my frustrations. Then I tried to get my panties all up in a bunch about how undermining that message was to people. Like, of course! Your frustrations will disappear instantaneously if you just indulge your fantasy drink for the day. This kind of thinking is nothing but a slippery slope to disaster, or meals of chocolate cake and macaroni and cheese (maybe in that order). Truth be told, comfort foods that are high in salt and fat have been shown to release stress soothing hormones, but so has exercise. What would you choose after a day spent not getting your to do list done?
Anyway, this is the kind of stuff I've written about, with Melissa Clark, over on theskinnythebook.com, and it's the kind of thing I can get quite passionate about. Like, Let Up Already on the This Food Will Solve Your Problem Advertising. But truth be told it's advertising we have to live with. So I live with it. I stare at that ad each time I go in, and I think, the real problem is if I eat my frustrations, they're just going to be stuck in my belly. Who needs that?