I love Licorice Allsorts. Odd because I don’t like licorice all that much. I could (mostly) inhale an entire bag of Bassetts Allsorts in one sitting if left unsupervised. But my love for them comes with conditions. I dislike the plain ones. The ones that are too…licorice-y. The mouth-curling saltiness of them never did sit right with me. So I’ll eat everything but those - I’ll even eat the jelly-like one covered with tiny candy balls, even though it tests me.
I’ve been lucky though. I’ve always lived with or been around someone who will eat the plain ones, so nothing goes to waste. In the cases where I haven’t been so lucky, I’ll nibble on them as a last resort, thoroughly disliking the process and only being propelled forward for my hate of wastefulness.
Being given a lot that’s a mixed bag is often par for the course. Sure, there are lots of things to like, but so many to not like. And we aren’t always lucky enough to have someone take away the unpalatable. We have to suck it up and deal with it.
Life experiences aren’t like a Woolworths Pic n’ Mix. Remember those? You’d get a cup and fill it with your favourite candy (Jelly Babies and gummy cola bottles first, Allsorts and Dolly Mixture next, of course). Sometimes we get what we get and we don’t make a fuss. You empty the bag anyway because you’d hate to lose out really. And it’s not that bad - it’s not great but really it could be worse.
Perhaps the mixed bag is a good thing. If you aren’t looking, there might be one of the brown and black striped candies (that don’t taste like cocoa, but you’d imagine they should) that you didn’t eat after you’ve gotten through the ones you don’t like. And isn’t that the best one?