I accidentally ordered 850 gumballs

Now what?

I first got hooked on gumballs as a teen immigrant from the Philippines to the United States. I got a rush every time I turned that knob with a satisfying click, a gumball rolling into my waiting hand.

Decades later and I still pop a gumball in my mouth at the end of a good writing day as a little shot of pleasure for a job well done.

It was Christmas time and I needed to restock gumballs. I went online to put in an order through Concord Confections. Bright pink Dubble Bubble gumballs caught my attention, so I submitted an order.

Days later, my order arrived in a heavy box. That was when I realized I had ordered 850 gumballs. I only needed 66 for a quart-size canning jar.

“A gumball a day,” a friend did the math, “that’s over two years.”

I did what any shameless gumball afficionado would, and turned to social media for suggestions. I wrote:

I accidentally ordered 850 bright pink Dubble Bubble gumballs. (Don’t ask.) I only need 66 (a jarful). Creative suggestions of what to do with the rest of them would be appreciated.

My friends helpfully rallied around my cause and replied: