Griwing up, we also ate the kraut and hot dogs. The kraut was out of a can or jar. I now prefer just kraut. I like a homemade or Bubbies brand that is in the refrigerated section at uppity grocery stores.
"I had this theory. It was based loosely on the unremarkable observation that the old are always looking back with longing while the young, with the same longing, look ahead. One man remembers what the other imagines." Thomas Lynch, The Undertaking: Life Studies from a Dismal Trade