Today I inadvertently ruined Rice Krispie squares for a bunch of people at my work.

I had an idea a while back to make the famous snack using Cap’n Crunch in place of Rice Krispies. Although I’m not a big sweets guy, the idea of swapping out boring old rice for an artificially flavoured and sugar-infused substitute seemed like a fun experiment.

They were pretty good. More or less what you would expect, they were like the traditional version, but better.

I bought a few of them to work and handed them out to friends — many of whom are Ukrainians who are relatively new to Canada.

They were blown away, they were obsessed with this strange new treat and all wanted the recipe.

It hadn’t occurred to me that they’d never had a regular Rice Krispie square before. And now they might never enjoy it the same way that I had growing up.

It’s these tiny details of experience that we so easily take for granted. The idea that someone hasn’t tried something so ubiquitous in North America feels odd — but it’s obvious when you think about it.

I’m glad my treats were a hit, but it was also a subtle lesson in perspective.