Happy Noms

The Cronut craze is getting out of control. (For those unfamiliar, see this article). Yes, it tastes amazing. It is flaky yet crunchy, has a great cream filling, and is overall freaking delicious. I love donuts, I love croissants, and the cronut is sort of a dream come true. Still, there’s something VERY WRONG about people scalping them (see this article).

First, it’s extremely unfair for those who have waited for an hour to not be able to have one, but those with extra pocket money to easily just buy them off a scalper. Yes supply and demand control the economy blah blah but it’s still messed up for that guy waiting in line (that guy was me, see story below) to have wasted an hour of his life for nothing.

Second, and on a related note, the scalpers are creating a race to the bottom. The more scalpers there are, the earlier people will begin to line up for the cronuts, and the more artificially-inflated the wait (and price, apparently) for a cronut will become. This is not desirable.

Third, it’s stupid and a waste of time for the scalpers themselves. If you’re buying 2 pastries for $5 each (apparently Dominique is limiting customers to 2 cronuts now), waiting in line for 2 hours, and then reselling them for $20 each, that’s $30 profit you made after 2 hours of “work.” I know not everyone has a job that pays $15/hour or more, but if you do, stop scalping cronuts! It’s a waste of your time!

Anywhoo, story of how I got a cronut:

I went to Dominique Ansel’s every couple of weeks since first stopping by back in February. I stopped by on a random May afternoon and saw it as a new menu addition, but that it was sold out. Turns out, I had stopped by on about the 4th day of the cronut debut. I was told by the worker that if I wanted a cronut, I needed to arrive early since they sold out in 20 minutes. The following week, my sister and I woke up at 7 AM to get to Dominique Ansel’s by 8 when they opened. We got there at 8:01, and the doors didn’t even open up until 8:04. As fate would have it, the couple immediately in front of us got the last cronut. I was raging pretty hard, although the rest of the pastries there are great too so I had a consolation almond croissant. But I swore to myself that I was done trying to get a cronut – it was too difficult and not worth the effort.

A couple days later though, my sister got up at 6AM and went down by herself, and brought me back a cronut for my birthday (she’s awesome, I know). So that’s how I got to try a cronut.

But seriously, it’s getting ridiculous. And I hate the idea of scalping cronuts. Shouldn’t the people who love the cronut, who appreciate food and innovation, and have the dedication to wait in line, be the ones who are able to enjoy it?