Guest Post: The Mothership

It’s not just the speed of driving and the volumes of traffic in the UK that scare me, I panic now when I enter a supermarket here. I am over-awed at the out-of-town shopping facilities available now and the sheer array of foodstuff . I find no pleasure in having to make a choice from 20 types of washing powder or 25 different breakfast cereals. Neither do I find joy in being able to buy fresh produce year-round with no seasonal foods anymore. The idea of purchasing a 40-inch HD-ready(?) TV together with this season’s ‘must-have’ wardrobe designed by A N Other supposed celebrity at the same time as my food shop thrills me not. Don’t get the wrong idea, I am no Luddite – I buy goods from the Internet using my laptop, upload music to my i-pod, download photographs to the family website and make the most of email to stay in regular touch with family and friends (there being no voicemail, webcam or texting facilities available at present in the foreign country in which I live and work).

After years of living in third world countries I am used to shopping in what would pass in UK as the ‘corner shop’ – with a few canned vegetables and boxes of cereal of dubious origin strung out along the shelves, with occasional excitement when mushrooms are in season. Weevils in the flour is the norm. Dried pasta is always available, fresh milk is seldom seen. I can usually rely on mincemeat to arrive in time for Easter if at all, but I am used to choosing from whatever is on the shelves – I know the same goods won’t be there next time I visit the shop. My only choice is to take it or leave it and use it with whatever fruit and veg are in season. I am comfortable with that – and it makes for interesting conversation at dinner parties. Even so I get a guilt trip doing a weekly shop knowing that I have just spent more than the monthly wage of those who serve me. Just as long as I stock up on Marmite and PG Tips when in the UK, I am content!