Other People's Shopping Trolleys
Recently on my weekly shopping expedition, whilst pondering how many of the free-range eggs were genuinely free-range, I heard a young woman’s voice behind me exclaim above the din of the fruit and vegetable section “Who in their right mind would pay that for chokos?”. She seemed so indignant that I just had to check the price myself. They were $7.98 a kilo. The young woman, who looked to be doing a shop with her two male housemates, had made a fair point. Who would pay anything for chokos might be a better question*.
But overpriced chokos are not the only mystery at the supermarket. I am constantly puzzled at many purchasing habits of other people. For example, there is still a demand for fishpaste. Why?
Other mysteries : just who is it who thinks tinned fruit in fruit juice isn’t sweet enough and insists on buying canned fruit in syrup?
How is it that products come and go (yet another practice which can be filed under the heading “Modern Life is Rubbish”), and yet there is always SPAM and quite a lot of it. Clearly it is the cockroach of the food world…
Do the people at McIlhenny & Co in Louisiana do anything other than supply the world’s demand for Tabasco Sauce? When/how did they discover the world needed Tabasco Sauce?
And frankly, who the hell is eating chokos???
Dealing with the big issues here.
Yours in consumerism
* For those of you who have never had the misfortune of eating choko, it is (technically) a fruit of South American origin, and some people swear it is delicious if cooked correctly or made into a chutney. The taste is similar to a squash or zucchini but somehow both sharper and more bland. It is said to be high in Vitamin C but so are any number of vegetables I can think of which taste a lot better. The taste can be improved with lashings of butter, although this does rather defeat the purpose of eating your veggies.
** If you do know someone who says nitpicky and irritating things like this, then why are you sharing perfectly good cake with them??
But overpriced chokos are not the only mystery at the supermarket. I am constantly puzzled at many purchasing habits of other people. For example, there is still a demand for fishpaste. Why?
 |
| Not worth $7.98 a kilo |
I suppose it is none of my business how people spend their money but the plain wrap raw sugar or plain flour is about 50 cents cheaper than the “name” brands and that extra 50 cents gets you nothing more than a pretty label, rather than better quality content. All the flour and sugar probably comes from the same refinery and is of the same quality and yet…sure, some things you get what you pay for (eg. tea, coffee, plastic wrap, ice cream, mascara) but has anyone ever heard a person comment after eating a piece of cake “You used plain wrap flour didn’t you? I can tell from the crumbiness” No? Didn’t think so.** So who is wasting their money for the sake of a label? Then I heard about those struggling to make ends meet on $150,000 a year….
Other mysteries : just who is it who thinks tinned fruit in fruit juice isn’t sweet enough and insists on buying canned fruit in syrup?
How is it that products come and go (yet another practice which can be filed under the heading “Modern Life is Rubbish”), and yet there is always SPAM and quite a lot of it. Clearly it is the cockroach of the food world…
Do the people at McIlhenny & Co in Louisiana do anything other than supply the world’s demand for Tabasco Sauce? When/how did they discover the world needed Tabasco Sauce?
And frankly, who the hell is eating chokos???
Dealing with the big issues here.
Yours in consumerism
* For those of you who have never had the misfortune of eating choko, it is (technically) a fruit of South American origin, and some people swear it is delicious if cooked correctly or made into a chutney. The taste is similar to a squash or zucchini but somehow both sharper and more bland. It is said to be high in Vitamin C but so are any number of vegetables I can think of which taste a lot better. The taste can be improved with lashings of butter, although this does rather defeat the purpose of eating your veggies.
** If you do know someone who says nitpicky and irritating things like this, then why are you sharing perfectly good cake with them??
Comments
Post a Comment