Reflection on supermarkets and Joni Mitchell
Dedicated to my mother.
When I was 4, the worst time of the week was grocery shopping. Philip had taken my place in the baby seat and mum wouldn't let me ride in the big part of the trolley. I was so jealous of the other kids who got to ride in the big part of the trolley. Especially the kids who rode in the big part of the trolley and ate rainbow ice cream. Mum wouldn't let me eat rainbow icecream either. I had to walk behind mum for hours and hours on end, up and down aisles that went forever. We never bought toys in the the supermarket.
Supermarkets have remerged as the bane of my existence, thanks to my latest Geography assessment. Thankyou Bill Pritchard. I have spent the last week reading such classic pieces as
- Governance and trade in fresh vegetables: The impact of UK supermarkets on the African horticultural industry
- Cleaning up down south: Supermarkets, ethical trade and African horticulture
- The rise of supermarkets in Africa: Implications for agrifood systems and the rural poor
My break from reading is extending way beyond my self prescribed time slot, mainly cause mum enlisted me to help her make soup. I stood in the kitchen chopping vegetables, wondering where they came from. Probably not Kenya, they mainly export to the UK. I think most of our produce is local, although I'm not sure, I haven't come across an article about Australia yet. Bill (our lecturer) mentioned that China now holds a monopoly over garlic exports.
Mum left to take Philip somewhere and I stood by myself chopping mushrooms into small pieces. She had been listening to Joni Mitchell's greatest hits. I haven't listened properly to that CD since year 11 maybe, so I was suprised to still know all the words. Chinese Cafe came on. I used to skip that song. Not only is it incredibly lame, being an 80s, drum machine, unchained melody cover, synthesier filled sort of song. I used to find it so depressing, this song about two middle aged women who sat in a cafe and wondered where their lives had gone and tried to ignore it by listening to old music.
I am amazed that people like Joni Mitchell can write these songs that leave you feeling like life is completely meaningless. And I am amazed that people like my mum can grow up with this music and just keep listening to it and affirming what it says. How on earth can you affirm ideas like that? How on earth can you be content with ideas that??
It's life's illusions, I recall
I really don't know life at all
Ugh.
When I was 4, the worst time of the week was grocery shopping. Philip had taken my place in the baby seat and mum wouldn't let me ride in the big part of the trolley. I was so jealous of the other kids who got to ride in the big part of the trolley. Especially the kids who rode in the big part of the trolley and ate rainbow ice cream. Mum wouldn't let me eat rainbow icecream either. I had to walk behind mum for hours and hours on end, up and down aisles that went forever. We never bought toys in the the supermarket.
Supermarkets have remerged as the bane of my existence, thanks to my latest Geography assessment. Thankyou Bill Pritchard. I have spent the last week reading such classic pieces as
- Governance and trade in fresh vegetables: The impact of UK supermarkets on the African horticultural industry
- Cleaning up down south: Supermarkets, ethical trade and African horticulture
- The rise of supermarkets in Africa: Implications for agrifood systems and the rural poor
My break from reading is extending way beyond my self prescribed time slot, mainly cause mum enlisted me to help her make soup. I stood in the kitchen chopping vegetables, wondering where they came from. Probably not Kenya, they mainly export to the UK. I think most of our produce is local, although I'm not sure, I haven't come across an article about Australia yet. Bill (our lecturer) mentioned that China now holds a monopoly over garlic exports.
Mum left to take Philip somewhere and I stood by myself chopping mushrooms into small pieces. She had been listening to Joni Mitchell's greatest hits. I haven't listened properly to that CD since year 11 maybe, so I was suprised to still know all the words. Chinese Cafe came on. I used to skip that song. Not only is it incredibly lame, being an 80s, drum machine, unchained melody cover, synthesier filled sort of song. I used to find it so depressing, this song about two middle aged women who sat in a cafe and wondered where their lives had gone and tried to ignore it by listening to old music.
I am amazed that people like Joni Mitchell can write these songs that leave you feeling like life is completely meaningless. And I am amazed that people like my mum can grow up with this music and just keep listening to it and affirming what it says. How on earth can you affirm ideas like that? How on earth can you be content with ideas that??
It's life's illusions, I recall
I really don't know life at all
Ugh.