recently, i read an essay by a writer who has adopted a chinese baby. have lap-top will travel. she realized she could truly live anywhere, so pulled up stakes from manhattan and moved to beijing.
besides the obvious mishaps and mayhaps of settling into a culture where she didn't speak the language, she was struck by the comparative austerity of her neighbors' lives. although in a firmly prosperous area, her american perceptions of consumption were severely challenged. there is a man who sells string. unlike here where we buy a spool that likely gathers dust in the garage or junk bin, her neighbors buy only the length they need. she could not find paper towels and was perplexed until realizing the facile waste of them. her refrigerator was smaller than her tv. well, the tv she brought from nyc.
besides all the blather about reducing our environmental footprint (gah, i don't own a car, gimme a break already, OK??) i have been increasingly conscious of what i *buy*. penury may be my not-so-new mother, but i'm always trying to weigh want vs. need vs. waste. shoes and bags long ago fell off the list, but even when it comes to "essentials" i've never been good at paring down.
today i went foodshopping. those of
you who know me realize this does not mean the shaw's. ;) it was haymarket day and i also planned on visiting my north end butcher, so i get the added feel-good bonus of keeping it local, ya know? it was sunny and mild and crowded and there was lots of jostling and jamming and god only knows how many languages. old harry the cheese guy, fish waving, banana hawking and lots of cigarette smoking over the lemons and melons, lol. as long as i've lived here, i've always liked it there. flirty dirty old men call you "bella" and give you free figs and mean ladies make you buy 2 bunches of asparagus when you only want one. uh, ok, so, skip the broccoli then, lol.it used to be all italians -- hell, that same guy has been giving me bonus stuff for nearly 20 years, lol. (yeah, extra garlic for me, but where did his hair go!) now there also lots of asians and a bunch of new meat guys. they sell pork, so they are not halal, but the shops are spotless, the meat is pristine and includes cuts i just cannot find elsewhere, the prices are rock-bottom and they are friendly! like, not just, "hey white lady, you have money..." but "halloooo, how you are? do you see something i get?" lol. it was great. today nearly swore me off my name-sake shop except for wasabi peas and tea, i do declare. i may not be ready to wrassle a goat neck, but the g.c. will be getting some new delectables.
it was one of those days when i wove myself back into the fabric of my city and my life. too often i let that fray when the bastards get me down. i saw proprietors, locals and gangsters i've known forever and everybody had a kind word. i helped tourists with their maps. stepped on and elbowed, i remained calm and even laughed with a guy who spoke no english over the absurdity of some broad in a burka with her double-wide stroller shoving between the stalls!
even with avocados and the exotic red watercress, i spent less than the federal poverty weekly guidelines for food. there's even some extra in case the g.c. decides to materialize. it would have cost me 3 or 4 times more at the big box, and they don't have the red cress!!
ya know... sometimes all you need is a day off.
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