Americans are obsessed with lists. Christmas Lists, Top Ten Lists, Shopping Lists, Hell, when I was a kid, one of the most popular books was aptly titled, The Book of Lists. We're obsessed. I make lists all the time and while I try to use the universally accepted limit of ten items, they rarely end up that way. That being said, lists are a terrible thing.
I have never, not once in my life, used a shopping list. You know what I'm good at? Shopping. I buy what's on sale, forgoing the avocados this week and buying some peaches that looked ripe and at a bargain. I walk down every aisle and find things I'd never think to add to the holy list, but now see the large can is but 89 cents. Lists keep us from exploring.
The inspiration for this, was not a rebuttal to a friends first blog, in which she lists things, proclaiming lists are a part of her life. No, this was inspired by a comical moment had at 5:18 in the morning. I went to get a glass of water and gazed in the fridge. Two slices of cheese, one egg in a carton for a dozen, some cream cheese, olives, salsa and a plethora of juices and other drinks. I winced at the thought that there was nothing to grab and eat, not even a delicious tomato or maybe some microwaveable item in the freezer. I sighed, then went to leave the kitchen. Atop the dining room table was a grocery list, developed by another, with the plan shopping today.
Tomatoes, tuna fish, celery, milk.
An empty refrigerator and a conversation about tuna salad and a desire to hold off on cold cut consumption and this was the master list. It made me wonder how one person looked into an empty refrigerator and saw the need to grab items with reckless abandon to fill the void and the other saw the opportunity to make a snack. The one egg, masked by the large carton? One would think peaking inside before making such a list would be obvious, but that isn't the way we think when we make a list. We make haste and I won't go into the cliche, but we all know what that makes.
As someone who always ate their way through the fridge without shopping for more, I am always perplexed by other's shopping habits. They buy only what they need for the next meal and invariably cause themselves two or three more trips during the week. I hate wasted time, despite having so much of it to waste. I can't stand to watch someone open a cabinet, put a plate in, close it, grab a second plate, open the cabinet, put it in, close it, then grab, well you get the idea. These valuable seconds aren't going to change the world, but they grow our inner frustration. It's like folding laundry. It's one of those things in life so many hate and do only because of the wrinkled repercussions. I laugh. It takes less than four minutes to fold an entire basket full of clothes, yet, people will find ways around it that take three to four times the span. Sure life is trial and error, but so many of go back to those wasteful ways.
I have lists of movies in my head that are ever changing and once they hit paper, I'm never satisfied, remembering a movie that needs to replace another. I have made lists of my accomplishments and faults and find that sometimes what I see as a positive moment was really a negative and those flaws that so many point out are rarely as bad as they seem.
In friendships, relationships and family matters I have always been known for my photographic memory. I remember complete conversations word for word and whenever anyone needs information or confirmation, they ask me what that name, face or place was. I usually quickly reply and they commend me on this ability. Ironically, when it doesn't suit them, it's called selective or I'm told I only remember what I want. We all know how that goes, because our greatest assets are always seen as flaws to those who don't share them.
Back to lists. I have a ton of lists in my head, but to share them would open me to ridicule and maybe, like with most lists, I'll forget one of the key components. I've aspired to make a list (more so a book) of the 1000 greatest movies I've ever seen. The reality and hindering facts being, nobody cares what I like, nor do they want to pay to see it. I always find that I stop, because it's daunting to take on something that will essentially be for my own pleasure and will most likely change within a week of it's finish. It's similar to my worries, that this afternoon, I'll mix the tuna salad, slice the tomato, pour the milk into my coffee and go for the bread to create the vessel for my food and it won't be there.
It wasn't on the list.
I have never, not once in my life, used a shopping list. You know what I'm good at? Shopping. I buy what's on sale, forgoing the avocados this week and buying some peaches that looked ripe and at a bargain. I walk down every aisle and find things I'd never think to add to the holy list, but now see the large can is but 89 cents. Lists keep us from exploring.
The inspiration for this, was not a rebuttal to a friends first blog, in which she lists things, proclaiming lists are a part of her life. No, this was inspired by a comical moment had at 5:18 in the morning. I went to get a glass of water and gazed in the fridge. Two slices of cheese, one egg in a carton for a dozen, some cream cheese, olives, salsa and a plethora of juices and other drinks. I winced at the thought that there was nothing to grab and eat, not even a delicious tomato or maybe some microwaveable item in the freezer. I sighed, then went to leave the kitchen. Atop the dining room table was a grocery list, developed by another, with the plan shopping today.
Tomatoes, tuna fish, celery, milk.
An empty refrigerator and a conversation about tuna salad and a desire to hold off on cold cut consumption and this was the master list. It made me wonder how one person looked into an empty refrigerator and saw the need to grab items with reckless abandon to fill the void and the other saw the opportunity to make a snack. The one egg, masked by the large carton? One would think peaking inside before making such a list would be obvious, but that isn't the way we think when we make a list. We make haste and I won't go into the cliche, but we all know what that makes.
As someone who always ate their way through the fridge without shopping for more, I am always perplexed by other's shopping habits. They buy only what they need for the next meal and invariably cause themselves two or three more trips during the week. I hate wasted time, despite having so much of it to waste. I can't stand to watch someone open a cabinet, put a plate in, close it, grab a second plate, open the cabinet, put it in, close it, then grab, well you get the idea. These valuable seconds aren't going to change the world, but they grow our inner frustration. It's like folding laundry. It's one of those things in life so many hate and do only because of the wrinkled repercussions. I laugh. It takes less than four minutes to fold an entire basket full of clothes, yet, people will find ways around it that take three to four times the span. Sure life is trial and error, but so many of go back to those wasteful ways.
I have lists of movies in my head that are ever changing and once they hit paper, I'm never satisfied, remembering a movie that needs to replace another. I have made lists of my accomplishments and faults and find that sometimes what I see as a positive moment was really a negative and those flaws that so many point out are rarely as bad as they seem.
In friendships, relationships and family matters I have always been known for my photographic memory. I remember complete conversations word for word and whenever anyone needs information or confirmation, they ask me what that name, face or place was. I usually quickly reply and they commend me on this ability. Ironically, when it doesn't suit them, it's called selective or I'm told I only remember what I want. We all know how that goes, because our greatest assets are always seen as flaws to those who don't share them.
Back to lists. I have a ton of lists in my head, but to share them would open me to ridicule and maybe, like with most lists, I'll forget one of the key components. I've aspired to make a list (more so a book) of the 1000 greatest movies I've ever seen. The reality and hindering facts being, nobody cares what I like, nor do they want to pay to see it. I always find that I stop, because it's daunting to take on something that will essentially be for my own pleasure and will most likely change within a week of it's finish. It's similar to my worries, that this afternoon, I'll mix the tuna salad, slice the tomato, pour the milk into my coffee and go for the bread to create the vessel for my food and it won't be there.
It wasn't on the list.
My next blog will be a list of some sort! I love lists. You can't stop me! lol
ReplyDeleteThat was your first blog
ReplyDeleteshut it
ReplyDelete