Sunday, February 14, 2010

Capitalism at its Best.

This is a wheel from a game where Carol, my dear friend, won a GREAT Twilight poster. Lots of choices on that wheel, huh?----------->

So ironic that me, the one person in the world who loves making it a point of trying to shop local and small business is sitting in Starbucks blogging with my donut (made from a local Seattle company called "TOP POT"--YUM!) and short, single breve coffee. What can I say? I haven't been able to find better coffee than the 3 top Seattle coffee places of Tully's Starbucks and Seattle's Best. But, really? How can coffee be local anyway, since it can't be grown here? Okay, I'm making the soapbox bigger, and so I'll come back to the smallness of it.
The reason for this topic?
Yesterday, I talked to a young woman who studied abroad. I asked her what it was like. It was ITALY for goodness sake! She didn't like it much. I asked her what it was besides the fact that traffic sucked, and she said that she didn't have enough choices. Being a young lady who has been raised in our modern American world for 20 years, she didn't like the fact that going to the market resulted in picking between 1 or 2 brands of detergent, or having to go to one market for detergent, and another for food. Then the food only had 2 choices of pickles and , and the aisles were small...etc....Need I say more?
As I end up at my Fred Meyer or Target (I do not do the W-word store, and if I do, it's out of IMMENSE necessity!!), I realize that half my time spent in the aisle is like this (in my head, of course, maybe)--"okay, so I need ranch dressing. I really like Hidden Valley, but Ken's is on sale, and it's not TOO bad, but LOOK, what's THAT kind? Should I TRY that instead??? Maybe I'll just get the creamy Italian since I now can't make up my mind and can only buy one bottle." You know, my DD and I both have ADD, and I wonder if I've developed mine because of all the damn choices I have!!! LOL!! Just kidding. But I feel that there are so many choices-like the fact that my breve could have 65 different flavors to go with it. What stops me from adding flavor to my breve? I like fat over sugar in my coffee. Skinny lattes suck, with the exception of peppermint mochas. BREVE'S, which are half and half w/ espresso, are yummy and full of satisfying fat. :D I get a short single, because it's the perfect size to carry the perfect balance of flavor. Can you believe I'm mainly a tea drinker? I digress.
CHOICES. We have SOOOOOOOO many of them.
Being a daughter of a K-mart shopper, I know all about selection, and sometimes, I don't like that. I think about the people who make my laptop that I want to replace with something less bulky, who probably go home to a house with many less choices than what I have. I recall having chatted with a Christian missionary who was gone from the US for 5 years and came back and didn't know how to go into a regular grocery store because it was overwhelming for her. Her soap in Africa was what she used for hair, clothes, and body. NOT that I'm saying to resorting to that is great, but it sure can make me stop and say, JUST BUY THE DAMN HIDDEN VALLEY ALREADY!!!

Because of my blog name, I'm going to suggest a book to read. I may or may not have read any of them, but I've seen them and they look intriguing if they are suggested. The one that may be a good book for this topic is called "How We Decide" by Jonah Lehrer. Drop me a line of your thoughts if you've read it or want to.

2 comments:

  1. At a Starbucks in Santa Barbara I asked the barista where they get their donuts. She said "Top something". They must overnight them. I wonder if Starbucks donuts all over the globe come from Top Pot???

    As an incentive to Mark to drive me to the airport (I usually take the shuttle flying out, but didn't want a 4hr wait at the airport) I told him I'd take him to a great donut shop. We don't have one in Sequim or Port Angeles. So we went to Top Pot. Which he enjoyed. I even had one! It's not on the Metabolism Miracle plan, but I hadn't fudged at all so I decided one donut was acceptable. It was YUMMY!

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  2. Hey Girl, It's your True Blood/Twilight gf here. (do I love Vampire Bill or Edward more today? hmmm...) Just thought I'd stop by and say hi. It's hard to believe that girl didn't LOVE Italy. I want to visit there more than any other place.

    My new sweet addiction is Starbucks lowfat banana chocolate chip coffee cake. yum! Give it a try. I bet it's better than Top Pot.

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