Grace Notes @ Snarkattack

My forays into the regular world are becoming more and more adventurous, she says not without a note of sarcasm. This week I’ve seen the insides of shopping centres and supermarkets a little more often than I’d like.

I should clarify that I don’t find shopping as such depressing. Many things depress me but stereotypically, like most females I actually quite enjoy it. In fact, in the past I’ve been guilty of turning to shopping to cheer myself up. Bad, I know.

What really saddened me about today’s trip into the supermarket was the realisation that an awful lot of people buy an awful lot of shit. That might seem harsh, but I think it’s warranted. Though people aren’t fully to blame either.

I watched my mother buy about eight cans of canned spaghetti for ninety-nine cents each. Cheap, yes. Healthy? Hell no. She said it was to send to relatives overseas. Fair enough…I think. They may live in a third world country but I seriously think their local fare is healthier than our first world processed shit. And I can confirm this personally - last time I was there I ate both traditional cuisine and the more Americanised stuff. Their bread was too sugary, their version of cheese came out of a jar in spread form (ugh!). Traditional food was way healthier - lots of soups, vegetables and seafood.

Back to my mother and I at the supermarket. It got better. She then bought fabric softener - one bottle was pastel blue, the other pastel pink. I ask you, for what reasons other than purely cosmetic purposes do they need to be coloured? Isn’t that one extra additive that could potentially irritate sensitive skin, therefore isn’t really necessary?

My brother has extremely sensitive skin and has several topical creams and ointments he has to use as a result of skin allergies and irritations. Wouldn’t cleansers free of dyes and perfumes be a better choice?

Admittedly, unless it’s a profit turner, there simply aren’t a range of choices for those who want to practise conscious consumerism. Today, I purchased some biodegradable feminine sanitary products and it was one choice in several less environmentally conscious choices. It was also more expensive. Not everyone could afford to make the choice I did, I can imagine.

It made me sad, sad for the state of the human race, sad for the planet - sad to think that we fill our lives and cupboards with all these unhealthy, processed self-proclaimed miracles of developed world living.

I’ve no right to judge people on the choices they make - it’s incredibly hard not to resort to fast food or TV dinners when people have so little time for anything after work. The fact that change from this sort of life most people have seems so unfathomable is what is depressing.