So Ty and I are walking by Mrs. Fields cookies today in the mall and, since I have given up ice cream for Lent (grrr, two more weeks to go), I asked him, "Want a cookie?" This is typical mom behavior because it justifies my purchase of one regardless of what he says, even if he says nothing, which, in this case, he does. So I peruse the glass case, reading the signs with the various types of cookies... and Bingo! I see silver dollar size White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies and since I now have some semblance of willpower (it has taken years), I ask the girl behind the counter "May I please have two of the White Chocolate Macadamia Nut?" and she looks me at quickly and points to the sign above the case which indicates the prices and which I had overlooked in my sugar avarice and lust... "Well, this is the price for half a dozen or a dozen; if you don't buy 6, then they are going to cost you 60 cents apiece."
Now, for argument's sake and for the mere notion that I didn't have anything against this girl, Mrs. Fields or her cookies, I understand why she told me this; that by purchasing 6 cookies, I was actually SAVING money per cookie. Yes, let this sink in for a minute before you come to the instantaneous conclusion that I did; to save more, you must first spend more, whether you want the product or not. In order to lower the individual price per cookie, I had to buy in COSTCO quantity. Well, maybe not THAT much, but, put simply, if I wanted 6 fucking cookies, I would have asked for them... but I digress a tiny bit and add that she was pleasant enough so I am sure that my tone of voice took over and persuaded her to do what she did without me ever having to say it out loud...
After she told me about my potential cookie savings, I extended two one dollar bills and said forthrightly and maybe with just a tad of irritation, "I don't want to eat 6cookies, I just want two." She instantly retreated saying, "Oh, that's okay, just a dollar then" and I smiled to soften my harshness and said, "No, no, I don't mind paying for them, I just don't want 6 of them." She smiled back, maybe a bit more genuinely and insisted on giving me the 10 cent per cookie discount. I thanked her, took my silver dollars and off we went. I had nothing against that girl or the policy or the business empire known as Mrs. Fields, but as we walked and I thought about it, I realized, this is a HUGE problem and it is making us even bigger, literally...
Now that I think about it, everywhere that I've been where food is involved has this kind of "bulk" mentality; we'll stuff you full if you just pay a tiny bit more, thus saving yourself money but not really considering what it's doing to your health or your well being?!? If that girl had given me the 6 cookies for free I would have eaten them and I know that. That's why I didn't get them. When I order coffee or a sandwich or two eggs at a restaurant, it's because THAT'S WHAT I WANT!!!! I don't want the extra large for five cents more or a double cheeseburger because it's on the dollar menu and no, I most certainly do not want to add another ball of cholesterol on my plate for a mere 35 cents thank you very much. Anything that has the word, Large or Extra Large or Super Size on it is a NO in my vocabulary. Continuing on with this particular... whatever the hell this is, I took Ty to the movies to see Born to Be Wild which was fantastic; only an hour, it is a documentary about two extraordinary women in Kenya and Borneo, respectively and their breakthrough work with elephant and orangutan infants, respectively... we loved it. I had failed to bring water and Ty wanted lemonade so I stood in line and watched as buckets masquerading as cups were filled with soda. I thought about all of the livers that were going to be hurting to process the sugar and calories an hour from then and I thought about how many people were going to come back for their "free refill" because the 120 ounces of coke wasn't enough to satisfy their thirst. That was enough to sicken me. So I get up there and I order a small lemonade and a 4 dollar water and since Ty is screaming for popcorn, I order a small bag of that too. Now the popcorn is normal sized, that I get, but when the kid put down the "small" cup of lemonade, I was like, hey wait, that can't be a small; it was about 32 ounces and he said, "That's small." So I asked for the kid's cup and he told me that you could only get the kid's cup with the kid's pack and I took a deep breath so that I wouldn't leap across the counter and strangle the messenger, I simply said, fine, I'll pay for the small, but only fill it halfway. The kid looked at me like I was out of my mind. But hey, if it's there, Ty will try to drink it; lemonade is liquid sugar water so, I took my half filled cup and my kid and we went off...
This is not going to turn into a diatribe about obesity in this country or excessive behavior by any means, I just found it rather disturbing that meals and snacks and food items, most of which are now listed with calorie content, just continue to grow and expand which, in all honesty is just a mere reflection of our waistlines. And I say this because weight and health and everything associated with it is something that my entire family struggles with and it is hard enough without all of the extra enticements thrown around. I'm thinking that to stay thin and healthy in this country, you really have to be one of two things: very rich so that you can afford the best food, trainers, gyms, masseurs and whatever else you need or very poor so that you can only afford the necessities thereby not allowing you to overeat, ever. The middle class is just like that spare tire that most of us carry around our waist; in excess and unnecessary eating, gaining and overdoing it. It saddened me and made me think about the general state of well being of most people in this country and around the world.
In addition to those thoughts, came some serious mall watching as Ty and I walked through and stopped to shop here and there. I like people in general and because I am a people person, I say hello and smile at people as they walk by, but in the mall, all I can say is, WOW. There were some studies for PhD candidates in Psych today... kids beating each other down while the mother WATCHED, to the point where one kid was hysterical and rolling around on the floor, holding his gut. There was the couple who were fighting mid aisle, screaming obscenities at each other as parents covered their children's ears and tried to keep from laughing at some of the ridiculous things that they were saying. There was the Disney store... do I even need to explain this? And, there was the shoe store, where Ty graciously allowed me to try on a pair of 85 dollar shoes that I loved, but which I could not afford to which the salesgirl questioned, "Aren't you going to buy those?" I smiled and thanked her and declined to which she abruptly turned and went back to soliciting more customers, more paying customers...
We ended our jaunt by waving to the Easter Bunny and then by heading to Barnes and Noble where we passed by the Dr. Seuss table and Ty, who is in the throes of a major Dr. Seuss crush, almost passed out from the mountain of books there. He grabbed about 7 and we proceeded to the nearest corner and began to read. We hadn't been to the bookstore as much lately due to the fact that the books are so expensive. The library has been a much more effective place to indulge our reading habits, but I forgot how appealing the kid's section is and how much I missed just sitting there amidst all of the new books while Ty sat on my lap, sucking on his fingers, listening and laughing along with the words...
When it was time to go, he didn't fuss, he just grabbed his bag, which held his new Buzz Lightyear ray gun, yes, the dreaded Disney store and yes, I'm a pushover and we went outside to wait for Tim, who was picking us up. Ty donned his bunny ears, a present from the Easter Bunny stand and he proceeded to jump up and down, watching his shadow "Hop" in front of him as we stood there. Tim drove up a few minutes later, laughing at his youngest son, enjoying something simple and silly...
All in all, it was an interesting mall experience today and just another mirror of life outside the mall and, in all honesty, I think I rolled through every emotion today, anger being the primary one, but, let's face it, that kind of goes without saying and I ended with laughter, really, always, the best emotion. And maybe just the slightest resentment or regret for not buying those other 4 cookies because they sound REALLY good right about now... nah, I'm sticking to my guns on that one, real or the Buzz Lightyear version.
No comments:
Post a Comment