My daughter has upset me greatly by laughing mercilessly at my shopping technique. The local Four Square allows people to shop together, and any number of people can come in at any one time as long as they keep apart from other shoppers. It’s much simpler and more fun than a real supermarket, even though the range is poor and it’s far more expensive. I know that in these times you’re meant to be quick and efficient with your shopping but I really struggle with it. How are you meant to choose between all the different brands of coffee or Sauvignon Blanc if you can’t browse the aisles or even read the labels? Apparently I also have the habit of saying out loud every item I’m looking at. I explained to her that it’s a habit I picked up from work, where it’s an important part of risk reduction to verbalise what you are thinking so that you can share your mental model with workmates. Also, it reduces drug error if you say out loud every drug as you draw it up before giving it to a patient. That shut her up briefly, and it’s also almost true.
Anyway it left me feeling glum and clueless. My daughter felt so bad she had to cook me some extremely good Eggs Benedict to make up for it.
On the plus side, my Kathmandu order finally arrived. The spiel and photos on the website are all “suited for day tramps”, “keep comfortable while you’re active outdoors”, and that sort of thing, but I’m sure they realise what most of us are using them for – especially in the days of lockdown – schlepping clothes. Because sometimes two pairs of fat pants aren’t enough.