"Free Sample?"

There are about 7 million reasons why I love Costco. I mean we've got 60 cent soda. Pizza slices the size of your heads. Just crates of mustard. And bags of flour and salt that could kill and cook and entire village.

But most of all...free samples.

I often venture around Costco in a low blood sugar daze. I sip on my ridiculously cheap Diet Coke but, the eight gallon bags of licorice just taunt me. "You hungry?" they say, "you can't eat us...suck it." Man, licorice is mean.

But then, the delicious sound of a kind Costco employee rings out. "Free sample?" the sweet man in a hair net and an apron says, pointing to the cups of noodles or baked beans like he's auditioning for Deal or No Deal.

I don't care if they've caught a squirrel and diced it up. Free sample...I'm on it. I don't even like trail mix, but if handed a cup of it, I will gladly chow it down.

Even better than your tiny cup of noodle salad is the moment where you hit the motherload. The holy grail, if you will, of free samples. Once, I got probably a whole slice of pizza. Another time I snuck away with three bon bons. Like good bon bons. I've only heard of free sushi samples...I choose to believe they're out there.

"Free sample?" There is nothing more melodic to my ears when I want something to keep me from ripping open a whole bag of Fruit Loops.