'Made with Organic Oats and Soybeans' (And a Bit of Philosophy)

I really enjoyed this week's discussion that arose out of talking about Chicago's grid system. I think a lot of people in the class, myself included, believed that the layout of our sidewalks, roads, and other infrastructure reflected a linear philosophy held by American society. By linear I mean that the common belief in America is that the most efficient and time-effective way is the best. With this in mind I was enjoying a hurried and rather unbalanced breakfast the other day, consisting solely of a "Crunchy Peanut Butter" Clif energy bar. I've come to overlook Clif's dogfood-esque taste and lack of desirable texture for the entertaining anecdotes printed on the back of the bar's wrapper written by Clif's founder and owner, identified there only as "Gary". However, the one I read that morning on my way out the door was especially interesting in light of our discussion:

For me, European bike trips have never been about riding from point A to point B. My buddies and I far prefer the explorative method of riding. Rather than being blown off the bigger red roads by the noise and dust of passing semis, we seek out the serenity and quiet of remote alpine valleys on the smaller white roads - views of massive rock faces and glaciers at every turn. We've carried road bikes on our shoulders over high mountain passes, slid down vast glaciers along side our bicycles, and stumbled upon more quaint villages than I can count. As with our cycling epics, it is the winding road - not the destination - that drives Clif Bar. It's a simpler, more rewarding style of riding - and doing business. From our people, to our products, to our planet, it is on the smaller white road that we choose to travel.

Gary is saying more or less the same thing that Mr. O'Connor did about linear philosophies. What is interesting to me is that we can assume Gary's primary concern is selling Clif bars. Clif's logo is a man climbing an actual cliff with several mountains in the background. It seems to me that Gary and the rest of the Clif company are marketing their energy bars away from mainstream society to the Jon Krakauers and Chris McCandlesses of the world; the wanderers, critical of the status quo. Of course the great irony of this whole story is that while pondering all this I was in the midst of eating the Clif bar as quickly as possible rushing out my door to catch the bus, determinedly trying to get from Point A to Point B is as straight of a line as possible, with no thought for valleys or glaciers.