Grocery Store as Gauntlet (file under I Told You So)

Isn't this interesting... it seems as though grocery retailers are finally recognizing that grocery stores aren't exactly a cake walk for all their customers.

Unsurprisingly (and a little sadly), the focus is exclusively gender-based, the implications being, men get lost, women don't. Which, of course, makes AD/HD-grrl feel a little bit more like a freak.

Still, in response to the guy mentioned in this article as on his way to "a nervous breakdown in the cereal aisle," I've got this: You think the cereal aisle is mind-boggling! Try the feminine hygeine products aisle. Setting aside the plethora of tampon choices... there's short pads, long pads, overnighters, wings, no wings, fragrance, no fragrance, baking soda, special liners, brief-friendly, thong-friendly. (And various permutations therof.)

The folks who make Always pads tried some kind of bizarre, arbitrary iconic identification system a few years back that I am personally grateful failed. Do I get the stars, the flowers, the sailboats, or the duckies? WTF? Imagine a woman in the throes of PMS, before a wall of plastic-covered product, shuddering short of tears. Those were moments I wondered whether the act of shopping for the rag wasn't actually causing the PMS.

I suppose I should be grateful. If the grocery store marketing mavens improve shopping for men, I suppose it should help me too. But in a world where the marketing campaign is so quickly confounded with the societal norm, it's a bittersweet victory.

Especially if, after all the other man-friendly changes, they don't do anything to streamline the feminine products aisle.

As the World Worlds

This week in our Comp Lit class on the German philosophers, we're covering Heidegger's "Origin of the Work of Art."

There are moments when I feel guilty about all the studying I do, and I'm certain this contributes to my procrastination (yeah, I get housewife hangover after all these years). The only way I seem to be able to allay this anxiety is by showing Matt (el esposo) just what I have to deal with.

Reading random passages from Heidegger usually does the trick.

"Matt! Listen to this… Heidegger's talking about… here… the `thingly character of the thing, the equipmental character of equipment, and the workly character of the work.' But there's more. A little further on - this is even better - 'the world worlds.' You see what I have to put up with??"

Matt's eyes widen incredulously and he slowly shakes his head.

Am I grossly oversimplifying? Sure. Am I being dramatic? Of course.

Am I gloating? Hee-hee. Vindication!

I can now go back to my homework. A little less guilty about not doing the dishes at the moment. And eventually, a little less guilty about being behind on all the stuff I'm setting aside to attend to Heidegger's prose.