Omission cooks up $2 worth of confusion

Like many guys, I sometimes don't follow directions very well.

Usually the results of this deficiency can be bad, but I've found that when cooking (or however you describe what I occasionally do in the kitchen), it's sometimes a smart move.

Nine days out of 10, I make the lunch that I eat at my desk each weekday. Given my relative lack of cooking ability, it's almost always some sort of pasta dinner. Hey, runners love pasta and the accompanying carbs, right?

I make these dinners so often, that I've memorized the microwave directions for Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. It was an advantage to do so because the Kraft folks don't put the microwave instructions on the package. You have to find those instructions (from other sources) on the Internet.

One of the dinners that are in my rotation is Pasta Roni Shells & White Cheddar (above, left). I started to make this on a fairly regular basis when I took my current job last May.

I immediately noticed a hilarious omission: If you follow the microwave instructions (right) exactly, you never would actually put the pasta in the bowl.

I'm just a nonconformist, I guess, because I decided to put the pasta in before microwaving the contents of the bowl for 10 minutes.

Seasoned hot water might be interesting for some people, but it doesn't excite me.

I assumed last summer that somebody would point it out and that it would get fixed, but I assumed incorrectly. Months and months of buying this product and it never got fixed. I decided to point it out to the company, and got this response via email:

I was more irritated that nobody had pointed out this omission than anything else. I really didn't expect to get anything more than a thank you from the company. But when I got the above email, I figured that the coupon would be for $10 or $20 off. How much is that worth to them? A $2 off coupon came in the mail about 10 days later.

So everybody, including pasta makers, needs proofreaders. And if you actually are making pasta, remember that it always is helpful to actually add the pasta during the cooking process!