Z-Mart

There is a certain kind of Entertainment that goes far beyond the now-cliche “Guilty Pleasure.” I'm tentatively calling it “Zima Art” or “Z-Mart.”

Back when I worked at Delta airlines Zima was real big on the scene. Yet, everyone I worked with—to a man—trashed the drink as unpalatable, and more than a few implications that quaffing said beverage could possibly start a journey down the Trans-Gender highway. Not being a drinking man myself I had no knowledge of such things, but it seemed impossible that Zima could be so popular when everyone seemed to loathe it so.

Finally, in a week moment, my friend Adam admitted to me that Zima actually tasted pretty good. “The thing is,” Adam confided, “no man can willingly go into a liquor store to buy a six pack of Zima. So, what you have to do is something along the lines of, 'Yeah, I'll take a bottle of Vodka, some J-D, a 40 of 8-Ball, and uh, a six pack of Zima, for the wife, ya know!'”

I realized that for many, Zima fit into that class of art that people needed to make excuses to enjoy, because they felt ashamed to admit they liked it. At various times such items in the Z-Mart shopping cart have included: NSYNC, Sex and the City (for men), Harry Potter (before blew up and became okay for adults to admit they loved), Michael Bolton, Jerry Springer, Reader's Digest and The Olive Garden.

Can you think of others?