Candy Connects Us More Than We Realize

Candy has always been more than sugar to me. It’s a time machine, a connector, and a little spark of joy that somehow manages to stick with you for years.

I can still remember saving up allowance money just to walk down to Tuckers Market after swim practice. That walk felt like the biggest adventure. I’d turn down the candy aisle, and suddenly I was in another world. All those choices staring back at me. My hand hovering over one wrapper, then another, some new options and other favorites. The hardest part was knowing I only had enough for one or two. It felt like choosing treasure.

And then there were those “first candy” moments that stamped themselves on my memory. Fruit Tootsie Rolls at my physical therapist’s front desk. Nerds from the Little League snack shack. It wasn’t just the candy — it was the moment, the people, the feeling that came along with it. Candy has this way of taking something small and simple and turning it into something unforgettable.

A Sweet Surprise at GoDaddy

Fast-forward to building Sweet Trolley, and I found myself reminded of this power of candy in the most unexpected place: on customer support calls with GoDaddy.

I had to call in a couple times while setting up the Sweet Trolley website and email, and both times the conversation ended up going way beyond domain names and tech help.

The first rep, after hearing what Sweet Trolley was about, said: “Man, I wish GoDaddy would send us a candy jar and do refills for the team. We’re all remote, and that would be such a cool perk.”

I laughed, but I could also picture it instantly: people working from their homes in different states, different time zones, but sharing the same candy nostalgia during a Zoom call. Suddenly it didn’t feel like “just candy” — it felt like connection. Something tangible, shared, and fun.

Then on my second call, the rep noticed Salt Water Taffy on our homepage. He lit up. “Oh man, I love that stuff,” he said. “It reminds me of my childhood home. Back when I lived near the Santa Cruz boardwalk, we’d always get a bag of taffy.”

Now, Salt Water Taffy isn’t my favorite — I told him that — but that’s the magic of candy. Everyone has their own favorite, their own reason. His story took us on a tangent about how I used to love surfing in Santa Cruz, him also, and how he had moved to Virginia, and about to head to an east coast surf competition that weekend.

Think about that: we went from domains and DNS settings… to Santa Cruz, Salt Water Taffy, and surfing the Atlantic — all in the span of a ten-minute call. Two strangers connected because of candy.

That stuck with me.

And honestly? If anyone in my network is at GoDaddy and can locate that rep, I’d love to send him some Salt Water Taffy. Not just as a thank you, but as a way of saying, “Hey, I heard you. I remember your story. Here’s a little taste of home.”

Why This Matters

That’s what I want Sweet Trolley to be about. Not transactions. Not just sending jars in the mail. But about creating these little moments of connection. Between colleagues, between clients, and between friends and family.

Candy does that in a way almost nothing else can. It ties us to our past, it opens up conversations with strangers, and it gives us a way to share a smile — whether across a conference table, across the country, or across decades of memory.

So yes, at Sweet Trolley we ship candy jars. But what we’re really delivering are those sparks — the smiles, the nostalgia, the stories that come out of a simple treat. Because when you share candy, you’re not just sharing sugar. You’re sharing yourself.