bookmark_borderMiddle-class problems

I was introduced this way recently: “This is my friend Christine. She has a blog and she’s very funny.”

I took no offense to this introduction. In fact, it’s flattering. I am funny and I try to write about things that amuse me. (And maybe the three of you.)

But some things are just not funny. Take rotten onions, for example.

I enjoy living in a mixed income area and I like the multicultural mix. (Not just funny, but progressive, too.) But the lack of food options — okay, I’ll say it: high-end food options — is irritating. (I know, I know, you don’t have to say it. Middle-class problems.)

I was grocery shopping this weekend near my home and all of the onions in the bins were rotten, or very close to that state. There were bugs swarming around them.

This was in a new supermarket in a traditionally low-income neighbourhood (part of the gentrification that I am participating in). The store is pretty much the only place within easy walking distance. (I could say something progressive here about not owning a car and my love of not burning fossil fuels, but frankly I was one of those car people for many years and I liked it very much. It certainly made shopping easier. I miss Costco.)

But back to the onions. They were gross. Granted, most of the produce was fine, but not spectacular. The oranges had seen fresher days. And some of the peppers were a bit tired.

While I enjoy the rows of international food products and buy all kinds of things just to try out. (Usually with tasty results.) The overall selection is less than impressive. No blue cheese or fresh cold cuts and fancy meats, for example. None of those soups that I like in the mason jars, garlic paste or pate.

But this is fine. I can go to the gourmet food market on my way home from work for my fancy food items. I get that these products won’t sell there. But onions sell.

And I wanted one to be sold to me for my salad tonight. But nope. Instead I got some green onions which were a little wilted but fine.

So I gathered my things and walked home. Thinking along the way that I could buy a car to go shopping farther afield. (The fact that I am very lucky and can afford a car, but choose not to have one, was not lost in me.)

Now I am wondering if I should write to the manager about the lack of onion in my diet this week. Or if I (a damn lucky gal with no worries about how much I have to spend on food) should just suck it up.

bookmark_borderOh gosh, yes. Make me stop!

There is no reason to post this beyond the fact that I like this shot of me throwing my squishy stress ball down the hall.

me

navel-gazing
n. Slang
Excessive introspection, self-absorption.

Yeah, I know. I know. But really, can there be too much Christine? (In fact, yes. Oh gosh, yes.)

self-aware
adj.
Aware of oneself, including one’s traits, feelings, and behaviors.