The Church of Walmart

I am not a fan of wasting time. I take that back. I am a fan of wasting time when "wasting time" is the activity currently being engaged in. Not when it is a by-product of procrastination or distraction. Thus, I decided to jam my Walmart shopping into my morning before I was due at work.

I took the freeway, and wagered that I'd be able to get into the far left lane of the street I needed to be on from a right lane freeway exit. This is why I am not a world-class poker champion. I missed my turn. I pulled into a parking lot just beyond Walmart Boulevard, and made to turn around. Again, no luck - cars were streaming in after me. What the...? I had to go with the flow. The flow led me into a church parking lot. I drove through the lot, and lo and behold, was right next to Walmart! There is a God.

A trip to Walmart always takes longer than one thinks it will. I arrived at work five minutes late (for me, that's a big deal) and $100 poorer. A lot of that money was spent on produce. Produce is expensive. Produce has the shelf-life of a housefly. Why does society get all over lower-income people for eating processed foods and convenience foods? Convenience foods are convenient, yes, but they are cheap. They don't have white mold on them by the time you get them home and into your refrigerator's veggie drawer.

I propose a scientific study on the use of produce. It's not like science studies anything of more value - "Scientists find that eating four pounds of blueberries per day lowers your risk of cancer 2%." Of course it does. You'll have already died from blueberry toxicity.

I am willing to wager that it is actually MORE cost effective to eat 50% convenience/prepared/packaged foods and 50% home-made foods than it is to eat 100% home made OR 100% convenience foods. In the interim, I'll save the money I spend on hyperripe produce by collecting the mold. Grandma's getting some homemade pencillin for Christmas this year!