People watching in the supermarket
Posted by yabbitgirl on May 21, 2007 · Member since Apr 2006 · 14266 posts
Surely I'm not the only person who people watches based on what people have in their carts! I have caught myself thinking "what a waste of money" when I see a cart full of sodas, cheeze curls, chips and other junk...and the sight of kitty litter and pet food in a cart always makes me smile!
I should have been reading along! I always look at what other people buy and I see these Wonder Bread and chicken breast moms looking at my cart full of all sort of "weird" veggies no one else ever buys. It is with a sort of a stare, a look at me, a gulp and a glance and sigh at their own carts. I was not being like that, but I get that. No boxes of cereal in my cart, can't abide the stuff and won't buy it for those I love either.
As for a couple of you whose mom made your clothes, so did mine. Mine had, shall we say, limited sewing abilities and didn't even have taste in her mouth (she was and is a poor cook). The stuff was SO UGLY in my time, no style and the fabrics were nasty. SHe had no idea how I was built either. If my pants were up at my waist, the crotch was goosing me and they were hitting my knees. If the hems were at my ankles, the crotch was at my knees and waist in danger of sliding off my behind. I remember a certain bus yellow shirt and the sleeves were too tight to be bend my elbows and I could not write well at school. She never could figure out why I didn't like that top. Ohhh and the worst! We didn't have much money so my mom would sew things for birthday party gifts and that always was an enormous embarrassment for me.
I swore I would never do these things to my girls. I make everything from jeans, to parkas, to tops, dresses, nightgowns and occasionally underwear. I made the suit my younger son wore when he graduated high school and he wore it proudly because it was a VERY nice bit of work on my part...Italian wool (okay prevegan days) and rayon breakable lining with pewter buttons. LOVELY probably mostly because of the fella wearing it, but still.
My skills are considerable, even if I say so. I was...am...well I worked as a Professional Dressmaker and Tailor with PACC approvals and a degree in design. I make their stuff, but I have been told that they are the best dressed girls at school. I had one mom ask me what my husband did (I am divorced long ago) that I could afford to dress my girls this way. I SEW!!! When their friends began to understand that I had made these wonderful things, they began to ask my girls to birthday parties and then submit an "order" for a handmade item similar to something my girls had. Oddly enough, they were proud to take my sewn things to a party because they knew the girl in question would coo that that gift was the most special, then turn around and wear it proudly at school, being sure to tell the teacher who made it and why. It was hard for me to do this after what I had been through, but times change and I do have some skill (as well as expensive sewing machines that show off my talents and an eye for style and putting something together, not to mention craftsmanship that is first rate because I work hard at it). My stuff lasts and I always have a queue for castoffs because I never hand stuff down from one girl to the next, their shapes are all so different I have to make new.
Beautiful, stylish sewing patterns are something I can't get enough of because we didn't have these when I was a kid. The only thing that surpasses my kitchen gadget problem is my addiction to sewing, patterns, fabrics, findings, trims, buttons, zippers, washable marking pens, nice scissors, organizing tools and boxes, sewing machine feet and watching Nancy Zeiman on Saturday mornings. I LOVE TO SEW! There, now I have been honest with you all about my problems.
i usually dont look into other pple's carts b/c im trying to keep merrick from getting into something in the cart. my mom buys junk all the time. i already know that when i move out that the only time we will eat meat is when either jason is around (if we are still together when we move out) or when we have company. with wic u can get soymilk and beans but i think that it is only when u have a allergy to regular milk or something stupid like that. with the beans i think they are trying to get u to have another source of protein. i dunno i will have to go look at the little list of things u can get.
I wish the food network would give me my own Veg show.... I think that is my dream job 8)
Me too! I love to cook. I love to figure out ways to veganize old recipes, and the ones the Food Network has.
As for a couple of you whose mom made your clothes, so did mine. Mine had, shall we say, limited sewing abilities and didn't even have taste in her mouth (she was and is a poor cook). The stuff was SO UGLY in my time, no style and the fabrics were nasty. SHe had no idea how I was built either.
LDF, THANK YOU for the laugh-out-loud!! I have often been heard to say that someone "couldn't carry a tune if you sewed it to their clothes" but this is new and I love it.
It was only after I moved to Europe that I discovered the real difference between "home made" and "hand made".
Remember those late 60's minidresses with the seam down the middle of the front, that were printed in diagonal stripes and the seam made them meet in a V-shape? Trust my mother to say "I can make one for half of that price"! I wandered around asking her as she lay out and cut, "Mom, did you match the stripes? They have to meet in the front" and she kept saying "the stripes will meet, the stripes will meet, do you think I'm stupid? The stripes will meet"--and of course she sewed it together and not one stripe met!! THEN she forced me to wear it to school because "I insisted on having it.!" Well, not quite.
And let's not even discuss polyester doubleknit t-shirts and slacks with the French seam down the middle of the leg. Maybe that's why, much as I hate to iron, cotton and linen are my favourite fibres. It wouldn't have been so bad but she dressed me in colours that suited *her* and she's a Spring and I'm a Winter. She was blond, very pale peaches and cream. My hair is reddish brown and I'm strawberries. Oh dear.
I wish the food network would give me my own Veg show.... I think that is my dream job 8)
Me too! I love to cook. I love to figure out ways to veganize old recipes, and the ones the Food Network has.
There is a show called Christina Cooks that is much like what your dream job describes. It is on PBS, but not where I live now. There is a website-I loved the show and miss it! The cool thing is, she never really says the word "vegan" but all the cooking is vegan, and she just focuses on the health benefits of the ingredients she uses. That way your average SAD person doesn't get automatically turned off by the use of the word "vegan".
http://www.christinacooks.com/
There is this sad cooking show on locally here where this lady from the health department calls her food "healthy cooking" but she uses ground beef and cheese in most things. I crack up when I watch it! ;D
gah, my mom made a lot of our clothes when we were little, including intricate halloween costumes every year. I guess it kind of helps that she was and is a great seamstress. now that buy almost all used products, i have to put my sewing skills to use when i see a brand-new dress or top in the window of a boutique.
Now that we're all talking about home-made clothes... My mom made clothes for me and my sister when we were young (and our barbies, haha), and I loved them. Everytime I grew out of piece of clothing she made I would cry and refuse to stop wearing it until she took it away.
Little2Ant - I will have to watch for that show on PBS! Thanks for sharing that!
I really wish that the Food Network would have a show that featured vegetarian cooking. It could be mostly vegan or vegetarian, either way I think it would appeal to a large percent of the population. I LOVE watching the Food Network... I probably watch it more than any other channel... Favorites being Rachel, Giada, Tyler Florence, Alton Brown, Bobby Flay, and Michael Chiarello. However, when they bring out the meat and start cooking it or preparing it, I sometimes just get sick feeling... I try and pretend they are slicing up Seitan steaks, but when the blood oozes out its kind of hard to imagine it as anything else than what it really is.... sigh...
Maybe we can write a petition to the Food Network and tell them us Veg*ns need our own show! 8)
Little2ant, Christina Cooks show does air here! Sweet! I'm going to watch it now. Thanks :)
Great idea, Kendrakat!
Christina Cooks doesn't air here :'(
I was reminded of this thread while at home, this weekend, and shopping at the local Korger....I had my cart full of Larabars, soymilk, apricots, and organic cereal. Some guy walks up to me, looks at my cart, and demands, 'Where is the rice?!"
I said (rather testily I might add) "I don't know."
"Well NEITHER do I!" he replied, and stomped off.
WTF? Does he think that just because I'm a woman, I can direct him around the supermarket? Or that rice was healthy, and I had healthy stuff in my cart? No idea...my mom thought maybe he was hitting on me, in a very dunderheaded manner, but I am just confused.
I always look like a junk food vegan at WholeFoods, since I get all my veggies and fruit from a local grower directly to my apartment building. Oh, well!
LOL! If I had more nerve, I would try that at my supermarket just to see what people would say. I would go up to random people and say, very sternly, "Where is the rice?" But I'm not adventurous enough I suppose.
Now that we're all talking about home-made clothes... My mom made clothes for me and my sister when we were young (and our barbies, haha), and I loved them. Everytime I grew out of piece of clothing she made I would cry and refuse to stop wearing it until she took it away.
My mom was a fairly good seamstress. The problem was that she wouldn't let me pick out the patterns for my clothes. She picked out patterns and made styles that were at least ten years out of date! I have a picture of myself in a poodle skirt that would have been the "groovy" in 1952-1954 but the picture was taken in 1965! Omg, I felt like such a freak! I was so glad when she got a job and didn't have time to make my clothes. If she'd made plain skirts and blouses it would have been fine but no. Water under the bridge now. I've forgiven her for it.
Christina Cooks used to air here, but not anymore. BUT, they have her cookbook at my local market. I've been thinking about getting it, because I used to really like her show.
I'm trying this tactic as a way to meet potential friends here in the small-town midwest. I have yet to see one person without some sort of meat in their cart, though I do notice a few that seem to be pretty veg-heavy.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who does this!
This is a funny topic. My daughter and I walk to the grocery store almost every night. We walk and buy mostly fresh so we can only carry about a day or two worth groceries. Anyway last night the checkout guy just looked at us and said you guys buy alot of produce! As if there was something wrong with that. However, no comment was made to the women in front of us buying a gallon of cheap wine, a bag of chips, oreos, and a huge chunck of cheese ??? actually I was a little concerened about her, not my aboundance of produce. But like someone eles comented as well, that used to be me with a case of cheap beer, a bag of chips and some frozen pizza for dinner. Somehow I lived to see a better day :)
I know what you mean Snapoint- I'm always getting looks of dread and comments from cashiers when I come up there with a bunch of produce, half of the time they don't even know the name of what I'm buying and have to ask me or another cashier so they can look up the codes. It can be annoying. Yet people with 50 gallon bags of Cheetos to feed to their kids are perfectly normal?
As a kid, I had a job as a bagger, then a checker, then a florist at our local 24-hour grocery store. Funny times. Memorable things that came through the line, especially when I worked nights:
As bagger: a box of tampons. Bought by a guy and a girl. The guy says, "Oh, we don't need a bag for just one thing." The girl gives the guy that look. I put the tampons in their own bag without asking.
As a checker: that HUGE package of tp that a few folks were talking about...and 3 cans of cheap shaving cream. Bought by three teens dressed in black. :D
And as a checker: Ben & Jerry's, bag of Oreos, Can of Pringles, Dove chocolate bites, Bag of Doritos, bottle of Midol. Bought by a girl in her pajamas. ;D
Lol :D ;D
As bagger: a box of tampons. Bought by a guy and a girl. The guy says, "Oh, we don't need a bag for just one thing." The girl gives the guy that look. I put the tampons in their own bag without asking.
And as a checker: Ben & Jerry's, bag of Oreos, Can of Pringles, Dove chocolate bites, Bag of Doritos, bottle of Midol. Bought by a girl in her pajamas. ;D
I hear that!! ;D ;)
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