Inconvenienced

Do you notice, the local “convenience” stores with growing fuel pumps are burgeoning into the parking lots, excavating any last remnants of available land. Carrying low end products at high dollar prices.

(Recently saw a 9oz. bag of flavored pretzels for $8.99 making it nearly $ 16 a pound for cooked flour and butter covered in sugar. HF.)

Steaks do not cost that much and its main product has to be fed for years, auctioned off, transported, slaughtered, stored in a cold fly strewn warehouse, before ending up on a clean piece of styrofoam covered in plastic.

“We will pay the price
But we will not count the cost”

– Rush  “Bravado”

No wonder those convenience stores can keep expanding, in the space of what could be a small but reasonable grocery store.

Pound per pound, they are profiting off of pathetic products placed in pretty plastic packaging, instead of….

Carrying basics, like bread, eggs, milk, cheese, potatoes, flour, sugar, apples, bananas, carrots, pasta, crackers, butter, peanut butter, jam, coffee and wine.

Unlike “regular” grocery stores carrying seventeen styles sizes of generic and name branded stuff coming out of the same plant, with different packaging.

All to maintain the illusion of choice, jacking up the prices of everything, so more money can flow to corporations instead of staying in one’s pocket. Lit up in overly bright, temperature controlled mini warehouses.

Where one gets to work for free, for a few minutes, checking out the groceries, further blackening the corporate bottom line. Like with most jobs, getting little or no training.

Take a gander at any aisle, surrounding the product you are after, let’s say bread.

Bread.

Look at the excessive amounts of loaves, you have never even considered buying. Crazy.

Oh, look honey, this one has honey in it, this one has seven oates, (I’ll bet there is only five) look a flour dusting on top, wow, a split top, this ones thicker, whole wheat white, this one has raisins and….a cinnamon swirl. Look, gluten-free. Honey what is gluten?

“Too many choices America.
It’s not healthy.”

– George Carlin

That is just the regular grocery store. It is the really big shopping warehouse that offer extra challenges, such as dodge the three story forkift. Being offered samples by people who must have been carnival barkers. (Step right up folks and try this tiny piece of warm preservative filled food that the price includes covering my salary to stand here and cook.)

Not as many choices, however you can get your own vat of peanut butter, that sits long enough so the oil separates. Reconstituting it with a drill powered paint mixer.

Plus, buy books and a lifetime supply of socks and….a couch to sit on. To contemplate what purchase can be made next week.. Tires, jewelry, glue, computers or a ridiculously sized television. So you can stay glued to it while stuck on the new couch.

“Too many choices America.
It’s not healthy.”

– George Carlin

Never coming close to cogitating the reality that somewhere, someone is short on food.


“Thanksgiving.

Remember junior high school, high school, elementary school, “Everybody bring in your cans for the hungry people?”

Remember that?

Just imagine if somebody when you were in fifth or sixth grade, if the principal had the….. gonads to say on Monday,

“Children, it was the most single wonderful outpouring of generosity that this school has ever seen. More cans of food, feeding a hundred ninety three families, came to this school than ever before.

We only have one problem, and we’re going to deal with it this coming week. We’re going to cancel our regular classes and what we’re going to talk about is………what are those people going to eat………. next week?”

Now doesn’t that sound like a sensible educational system that dealt with those types of questions?”

– Harry Chapin

Nah, too many people would be….

Inconvenienced