Hungry for images, as Ginsberg writes, we went to the supermarket.  As many of you know, I have avoided supermarkets years, primarily because of my back, and I prefer to order online, but lately I’ve become less efficient and wind up having to supplement my stores.  

As a holocaust-influenced shopper, and a survivor of many wars  like most people in Israel, I am constantly tempted to overbuy, fearful that even the shops will run out of products.  During the ’73 war, when we had no eggs, my mother sent us powdered eggs, along with cans of tuna, powdered milk, etc.  even though I was driving around the country and getting supplies for all my neighbors.  I went to TAdiran in Holon for batteries, one farm for eggs, another for milk, and so on.  Clearly it’s an obsession learned from my family and reinforced by my experience here.  

So I usually go to a supermarket and go wild. 

But today, the only thing that could ignite my interest was vegetables.  vegetables and fruit.  There just isn’t anything exciting. The products all seem to be brand x, brands I’ve never seen before.  It’s like a poor imitation of last year.  

Maybe it’s only me.  I mean there are all kinds of nice things I don’t remember from long ago.  The Russian checkout ladies used to be rigid and domineering, and now they are nice, even point out how we can save more money on sales we might not have noticed, provide recipes, find discounts.  

So I didn’t get images, but I did see a lot that told me about what’s going on in our economy.