Impressions

Interesting, matching supermarket
grocery-carts by their contents, to
the people pushing them. Cause for
smug superiority, like the appearance
on urban streets of the obese strolling
along, lapping at an over-filled ice-cream
cone, wolfing down take-out pizza,
hamburgers, with all fixings intact.

Have they never heard of appetite
restraint? Eating themselves into
morbidity, whacking their futures,
patterning their offspring to vulgarly
immediate consumption. In a world
where temptation is everywhere, good
common sense has succumbed to greed
and heedless urges for satisfaction
well exceeding satiety and logic.

There is the shopper: young, attractive
grossly ponderous in height and girth,
shopping cart brimming with all those
notorious products aimed at vulnerable
kids through ubiquitous advertising.
One, however, with full knowledge and
concern, does not casually condemn.
Despite which, the assumption is made:
this consumer is an unintelligent fool.

Your cart unloaded, its virtuous contents
of fresh produce predominating, a total
absence of pre-prepared "convenience"
foods absent nutrition, weighted with salt,
sugar, fats, in favour of only natural,
preparation-untampered foods; this is
your superior choice. Reach across to
grasp the bar to separate your choices
from that of the next shopper's faux food.

The large young woman beams with
gratitude, "thank you" chiming from her
bow-shaped lips in a completely spontaneous
charming lilt of obvious sincerity. Not much
of an effort to elicit such an acknowledgement,
you observe, and she trills with laughter,
claiming civility worth its weight in gold.
A response worthy of a noble prize for
social attitude. Gaining from you an
relaxed grin of total acceptance.

When your purchase rings through at
$132.28, and you proffer $150 in U.S. bills
and innocently enquire whether Canadian
coinage is acceptable: one quarter, 3 pennies,
the cashier frowns, seeks advice from a
supervisor who briskly advises this to be
a disallowed irregularity. The errant shopper
behind you, she of the morbidly obese shape
and cupid smile, urges upon your unwilling
hand 28 cents in U.S. coin. A valuable,
required and kind lesson in due humility.