By Carrol J. Rhodes
When your alarm clock woke you this morning, you had to make a choice. Get up or stay in bed. Assuming you chose to get up, other choices had to be made, brush and floss, or just brush, wash your face or ‘let last night’s washing suffice, whether to make the bed or not, what outfit to wear, eat breakfast or skip it, and what route to take to work. Let’s face it, our whole life is made up of choices, some easy, some hard, which reminds me of a trip I made to the grocery store last week.
Spouse had written cereal, orange juice, cat food, and milk on the list. With just four items, I thought I would be in and out of the store in mere minutes. The gourmet section of the store is located, conveniently, just inside the front door, so my first choice was whether or not to buy one of the delicious-looking cookies that were being passed around on a tray. Remembering my new year’s resolution, the decision was no. At first. Then, because the pretty bakery employee looked
disappointed, I gave in and bought two. One for me, one for Spouse.
Nibbling on my cookie, I headed for Aisle g, Cereal. On both sides of an aisle that probably measures fifty feet long by six feet high were boxes and boxes of cereal made from wheat, oat, and corn. Some plain, some frosted, some with pecans, raisins, or almonds, while others were touted as low fat, no fat, low salt, no salt, ready-to-eat, instant, and stay-crisp. I decided on plain Cheerios, then looked for a box that would fit on my pantry shelf. There were four different sizes to choose from. I chose the smallest. Even at that, it will probably be a year before we finish it.
Next, the freezer section for the orange juice. I happen to like one particular brand and size, but out of curiosity, I decided to browse the orange juice section. I counted eleven different brands, four different sized cans, and, in the brand I usually buy, I noted that I had to choose between ‘orange juice with added calcium’, ‘sugar added’, ‘with pulp’, ‘without pulp’, or ‘old fashioned’. I went with the added calcium.
So far, I had already been in the store thirty-two minutes.
Okay, cat food was going to be a snap. Aisle 12, Pet Supplies. Again, the aisle measured about fifty feet long, with cans, boxes, and bags stacked six feet high. Wondering just how many choices there were, I spent a few minutes looking over the selection. There was dry, semi-moist, and canned foods to choose from, in sizes from six ounces to fifty pounds. Oh, and did I forget to mention that some of the brands were on sale? So I had to decide whether to buy the brand my cats usually prefer, at fifty-nine cente for a six ounce can, or take a chance on Brand X that was selling at three twelve ounce cans for ninety-nine cents. I chickened out and bought twelve cans of “Fluffy’s Delight.”
I glanced at my watch. Forty-seven minutes. Dinner would be late.
Milk. I don’t even touch the stuff but I knew Spouse would need it for his cereal the next morning. Two percent, whole, skim, Vitamin D fortified, lactosefree, pint, quart, half-gallon, gallon, name brand, store brand, generic. The choices were endless. Exhausted, I grabbed a quart of Borden’sTM whole milk and headed for the checkout counter, thinking I could make a fast exit. Wrong.
There are sixteen checkout counters: Two Express-limit six items cash only, Two Fast Lane-fifteen items or less, Two Cash or Check with Coupons, Two Cash or Check without Coupons, and eight without any designation. No problem here, except that there were only three checkout counters with the lights on, signifying that there were living, breathing human beings who would help unload my cart, scan items and separate them into cold/not cold, bag them into my choice of paper or plastic, and ask if I need help getting the bags to my car. After almost an hour in the store, I definitely needed help.
The point I’m trying to make here is that we, as a society, have to make too many decisions. What ever happened to plain old Wheaties, Raisin Bran, and Corn Flakes in one size box? Why did manufacturers decide to fortify orange
juice with calcium? When did the cats of America develop a taste for shrimp, giblets with rice, and bits o’beef instead of table scraps?
I think you will agree that something’s got to change. The only problem is, the choice is up to us.
