Simplicity is a peaceful thing

Published 11:00 am Monday, August 4, 2025

I love crackers. 

I can’t keep a sleeve or box of crackers on my desk or within arm’s reach, or I’ll be tempted to eat them all. It’s like popcorn and French fries to me — it’s hard to pass up these snack items.

I guess it’s the crispiness, the saltiness, the toasty-ness, and the ability to put just about anything on top of a cracker and eat it. 

I recall a TV commercial from when I was a child, in which actor-comedian Andy Griffith was touting the delicious versatility of Ritz crackers. “Mmm, everythang tastes better on a Ritz,” he would say, as he cocked his head and smiled, then popped a round butter-flavored cracker in his mouth, topped with meat and cheese. 

Not long after the birth of the inter-wide-webs, I saw a photo that would be today called a meme. It was a rather large spider perched atop a Ritz cracker on a kitchen counter somewhere.

“Well,” the caption read, “everything tastes better on a Ritz!”

That photo with Andy’s drawled narration has lived rent-free in my head for 30-plus years, and plays automatically most times I see the beloved ridged-round crackers. 

I keep crackers in my office, along with a jar of peanut butter. While the PB is a store brand (which honestly tastes just as good to me and is a whole lot cheaper), the square crackers I prefer are a name brand — Nabisco Premium. Maybe for both products my preference is based on frequency of consumption. Regardless, they are my preferences. 

I have type-2 diabetes, so I really need to be careful how many crackers or fries or other carbs I shove in my mouth hole (and I try to be), but when my blood sugar feels out of whack, I know I can reach for some PB & crackers and feel much better rather quickly. Sometimes I’ll bypass the crispy bread and go straight for a spoonful of peanut butter. 

Some people in my family like to make spicy crackers, soaked in oils, spices, etc. and baked. Oh, my, my. Delicious. Some love to make cream cheese concoctions with peppers or pepper jelly and serve it with specialty crackers. Oh, my, my. Not delicious. But I will still eat the crackers, and the peppers.

We pick on each other relentlessly in our family. We’re not mean about it (or we try hard not to be), but if you do something the rest of us find amusing, you’re not likely to ever live it down. We’re all “victims” of this mentality. 

I pick on one of my three daughters because her tastes are very simple compared to her sisters and two brothers. She prefers things like pepperoni pizza, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, steak, vanilla ice cream, Coca-Cola, etc. — no need to “fancy it up.” Just give her good ol’ American staples and she is quite happy, thank you. She has a wicked sense of humor, but she’s a no-nonsense person.

Even though I pick at her about it, I honestly think it’s great. Simplicity is a wonderfully peaceful thing. I love the joy of just stepping outside in the morning, seeing animals and plants, waving to a neighbor, watching the bugs and fish “interact” in the lake, and thanking God for it all. There is something so amazing about just being able to be alive and be thankful. No need, really, to “fancy it up.”

Maybe that’s why I love crackers.

Editor Brett Campbell can be reached at brett.campbell@dailyleader.com.