Have you ever looked at someone’s food shopping on the
conveyer belt and made assumptions about their lifestyle? I never used to until one visit to Asda where
upon purchasing a family size bar of Dairy Milk, a bottle of rosé and a packet of ibuprofen, the
check out crone (I’d call her a checkout girl but that would be massively
understating her age) quipped,
“Cosy night in for
one?”
It’s actually lucky that she was approaching retirement
age because if she’d been younger I probably would have punched her in the
face for that sarky comment, however I managed to remember my manners and replied
with what was, in hindsight, the most pathetic come-back ever...
“Erm no, my
housemate and I have got a riveting night of Downton Abbey planned actually!”
It was at this point that I thought to myself, perhaps I
should have let her continue with her assumption of my fabulous life as a
singleton, being all chocolate and booze.
It seemed far more rock and roll than the truth.
Since then though I’ve spent far more time inspecting the
contents of other peoples shopping than I perhaps should have. For instance, the woman buying a copy of Weight
Watchers magazine and a chocolate bar is kidding herself, the woman who has sent
through an empty packet of Haribo is honest, but at her wits end about how to
pacify her screaming two year old, and the young man buying a twelve pack of
toilet roll for his weekly shop either has a large family, or a serious bowel
complaint.
It stands to reason however that once you start judging a
person by the contents of their shopping trolley, you have to start judging
yourself too. I’ve decided to use this to
my advantage for the 2013. The way I see
it, if I would look at my trolley and assume “fat cow” or “boring and unadventurous”
then really I haven’t made the right food choices during this particular
shop. Therefore for 2013 my new year’s
resolution is that my shopping basket should always project an image of a
healthy, nutritionally aware, gorgeous fabulousness.
Granted this means I’m going to have to go elsewhere to
buy my hideous granny-esque 15 denier knee high’s for work (oh come on ladies,
we all have them, and the supermarket multipacks are such good value for money!) otherwise I could undo my otherwise
well thought through plan...but perhaps if I make sure my shopping trolley is a
testament to a fabulous way of life, then hopefully I’ll actually start seeing
my life in the same way, because let’s be honest, here I am, in the prime of my
life, no children, no responsibilities to anyone but myself... so I might as
well enjoy it to the full, as you never know when your priorities might
change. Who knows? In a couple of years, I could be the Haribo
lady!
