Americans love, I mean LOVE, their soda pop. And cats love their canned pâté.
In the past few months of COVID, I have been volunteering for an organization that shops and delivers groceries to people who cannot get out to do it themselves, that is, the elderly and disabled.
Every week, the members of our little group mask up, grab a list of requests from an anonymous client, and head down the aisles. That’s how I know Americans love pop. I have learned that if a person drinks pop, they love it, and they don’t drink it in moderation. It is not unusual to have an order for three 12-packs of Diet Coke or A & W Root Beer. This is not a judgement; really just an observation.
I have also learned that America’s cats live a very cushy life. If a shopper happens to grab the list that has cat food, you can bet they will be standing in aisle 16 perusing varieties for a very very long time. Imagine endless cans of choices. Salmon, beef, chicken, turkey, salmon and whitefish, tuna and crab, and that is just the tip of the cat food iceberg. There is chunky, pâté, food in a pouch, food with gravy.
Now I love my cat as much as I love my dog, which is a lot, but I have never considered all the possibilities he could be enjoying. I don’t plan on telling him.
I have heard it said that people who come back from serving in a war, or persons who have been released from a long prison sentence, find that grocery shopping can be overwhelming and debilitating – there are just too many choices. I never understood this until I started this grocery shopping gig. Do you have any idea how many French fries are out there? There are Golden Crinkles, Extra Crispy Golden Crinkles, Golden Tator Tots, Golden Crispy Crowns, Country Style Flavored Crowns, Shredded Hash Browns, Golden Hash Brown Patties, and on and on it goes.
All this choice is indeed overwhelming. The good news is that I am shopping for someone else. When I shop for myself, I get the same old brands every single time. I can ignore the endless varieties, thus averting the crisis of debilitating shopping anxiety. I just shop and get out.
It is indeed a delight to be able to help someone out during this time of COVID. And folks, we are really blessed – we really do have an abundance of options.
And it is a delight to know that we don’t need to worry about our cats – they are being very well fed.