When I left America, I gave up something that I used to take for granted - trust. I didn't used to wonder if whether this name brand is a fake, whether this CD player will work a week after I get it home, whether my children's toys will make it through one day of play before they break, whether the DVD I just bought is a re-packaged copied film, whether this person is telling me the truth, or whether the food I buy is spoiled. It is really hard to give up trust, but that is what is required to live in this society. Probably daily we hear of someone or we experience being ripped off, taken advantage of, lied to, and deceived.
Today went shopping at the only "supermarket" in town. As we walked down the aisle of frozen foods we realized that absolutely everything was defrosted - the fish, the vegetables, the ice cream - everything! George asked one of the workers why it's all defrosted and she brushed it off with an explanation that the electricity was out over night. When George went further to say that it's potentially dangerous to sell fish that was frozen, defrosted and then will be refrozen, she brushed off his comment with an attitude of "too bad for you." At the meat counter we asked again whether their refrigerators were also working and the attendant said no. All the meat is sitting neatly out but for the past 8 hours or who-knows how long, it hadn't been refrigerated. No thank you, no meat for us.
A solution isn't so simple to find because this is the possible scenario anywhere you shop. There isn't a single store that I would trust and the market is just as bad. A few times I have bought eggs only to find that a few were completely rotten - the kind that even Templeton the Rat in
Charlotte's Web ran away from.
So, today's experience was just another of many disappointments, another reminder that we can't trust anything.
