I usually go to the grocery store with my husband every Saturday morning and when we get there, he will go and take back the returnable bottles (Michigan has a ten cent deposit on bottles and cans) and I'll start shopping.
Today, he repeated this routine and after hearing it week after week, over and over again, I snapped. I got snippy with him and said, "Why is that funny to you? This is where I SHOULD be spending most of my time. It means we're eating well and staying healthy."
I guess I got so defensive because eating healthy is not something worth making fun of, and it felt like he was poking fun at me. We should be giving a hard time to the people who don't bother to try to make real food, choosing instead to fill their carts with processed crap pumped full of chemicals. We should not be making fun of the people who are choosing to feed real, wholesome food to their families. That is honorable, not worthy of torment.
Roughly 50% of Americans are overweight or obese precisely because they don't spend enough time in the produce department, and you're going to make fun of me for spending most of my time there dear husband? I don't think so.
Don't get me wrong, I love my husband. But sometimes I've got to set that boy straight. And when I was done with him, he walked away with his tail between his legs. That's usually what happens when I get on my soapbox. ;)
Oh, men. They always tend to joke about the things we find important. We try to shop around the edges of the grocery store as well only venturing in to the "danger zone" for certain necessary items like cereal. Next time just tease him back or poke him in the belly.
ReplyDeleteI didn't exactly register that a supermarket was build like that... but now you mention it... it is true!
ReplyDeleteI agree real food is best. I have given up processed, fake food and spend every weekend at the farmer's market.
ReplyDeleteThe produce in your photo looks so good you could spend a long time there. I love how it is arranged. And I'm on that soapbox with you and have been for forty years now!
ReplyDeleteI could spend hours in a supermarket, I love going through the fresh produce, debating what to make. And it's nice that the organic aisle is getting more in to choose from. Yeah, my husband would know just where to find me, too!
ReplyDeleteI agree wholeheartedly with your sentiments. I have been making a concerted effort over the last year to buy as little processed food as I can, and have felt so much better for it. My husband just rolls his eyes, and throws his Oreos in the cart, so I try to shop with him as little as possible...
ReplyDeletePreach it, sister! Absolutely. When I explained the shop the perimeter concept to my husband a few years ago, he really liked the idea -- something easy to remember. On the other hand, I've had a lot of years to convert him.
ReplyDeleteI think most people who read your post will be right up there with you on that soapbox. It does seem strange, but the real food is what you have to hunt for in the grocery stores. I always shop the outside circle of whatever grocery store I enter.
ReplyDeleteI hear ya! I enjoy shopping through the produce department so I like to take my time. My husband and I learned many years ago that shopping is something we do alone :)
ReplyDeleteMy husband usually does the shopping and definitely spends most of his time in the produce section, and in the health/organic food section too.
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