Monday Morning Musings
Posted on March 9, 2015 under Monday Morning Musings with no comments yet
Near the Chinese Cemetery – Victoria, B.C.
( Peter MacDonald photo )
We’re just about through “storm chip season.” And thank goodness for that. I’m not concerned about another couple of storms but the thought of trotting back to the grocery store to get the “2 bags for $ 5.00 special,” is troubling. My potato chip intake index ( pcii ) has reached record levels, just like the Nasdaq did 15 years. I am equally troubled by something else. Do you remember the days when a bag of chips was a bag of chips? I’m talking about a full bag. We have been duped into believing that we are getting a deal on chips when , in fact, we are paying more for less. After all, half of the bag is now filled with air. Yeah, yeah, it probably has something to do with giving the chips a longer shelf life but I ain’t buying that line of argument.
And why am I on this particular little rant? The short answer is toilet paper. Apologies to some of you who have recently signed up for Week45 but on Mondays and Thursdays , I just drone on about life’s little quirks.
So , a buddy of mine was telling me about a recent trip to the grocery store where he discovered that a posted sale on toilet paper was erroneous. What was being touted as a bargain was no bargain when he did some quick mental arithmetic. He brought this to the attention of the store manager and walked out with two additional rolls. Well, then I got to thinking, which is always a perilous road to go down. Some of the advertising in grocery stores is often downright weird. The sign above the tomatoes clearly says “ product of Canada” and each of the beautifully ripened tomatoes has a small sticker that says “product of Mexico.” Duh?
I’m not accusing stores of false advertising. I have enough trouble with shopping ( another common theme in my stories ) without adding this layer of confusion. So rather than being charged for libel, I decided to write a light hearted story. It’s called “ More or Less” and will be appearing right here in a few day’s time.
I wrote two new stories on the weekend. One was about a trip I took to Montreal in 1971 to see a Montreal Canadiens hockey game. We encountered the “storm of the century” en route. Luckily, we were travelling by train. Some of you will remember that golden era when you could get on the train in Antigonish and be deposited underneath the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in downtown Montreal. The city was paralyzed when we got there and we ended up staying at the Q.E…. on the very day that Pierre Elliott Trudeau got married. The story is called “The Habs and the Hab Nots.” Coming soon.
Tomorrow my long awaited story (!) on aging will be published. It’s called “When I’m 64.”
And finally, two brief announcements. If any of you love the People’s Place Library in Antigonish ( recently voted as the “best public space in Canada” ), you can show that love by making a tax deductible contribution to a fundraising campaign being launched this week by Friends of Antigonish Library ( FOAL ). I am on the Board of FOAL and we raise money for the library for new acquisitions, furnishings etc. If you feel compelled to donate, see me or go to the website for the Pictou Antigonish regional Library and hit the “donate” button. http://www.parl.ns.ca/.
“Spring into Spring.” Grab a friend and join me at Days Gone By Restaurant in Guysborough on Friday, March 20th. between 5-7 P.M. It’s the first day of Spring and I will be doing a show of music and story telling.
Have a great week.
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