“Finish your vegetables, there are starving children in China!”

Well, my mother never really said this to me, but it is a mother cliché the world over (except maybe in China. Because that could be weird. “Finish your vegetables, you’re starving!” I suppose, truth is, there are starving people everywhere. So, all mothers should be saying “… there are starving children all over!“).

Still, it has to be said, regardless of childhood admonishing, a lot of people are lazy and as a result, are wasteful.

As you may know, I work in organic food, in a small department that is part of a much bigger supermarket. If you are Canadian, you may know this market, because it is SUPER. One might say it is a SUPER store. As with most stores, we end up throwing quite a bit of product away. It expires, it gets damaged during shipping or storage, and all sorts of other things. Such is life. The cost to the company isn’t an entirely big deal, but they are aware of the waste.

In the old days, they were allowed to give expired products to organizations such as homeless shelters (which I remember from when I volunteered with a homeless shelter during my 3 years of high school– we used to receive bags filled with two-day-old bread and other things), but now they cannot, because of a fear of being sued if someone were to claim to become ill off such fare.

Now there isn’t much they can do in that respect, the same way it is sometimes difficult to prevent products from becoming damaged. And that’s fine, I understand that.

What I don’t understand is how some customers can be so incredibly lazy! Every day, I arrive at work at 7am, which is before the store opens. I walk down my two aisle department, and pick up abandoned products from the night before. This morning alone, I came across two frozen formerly frozen pizzas and a package of bacon. On the shelf. Who in their right mind would walk from the frozen section (two aisles over) with their frozen food, and decide that it would be okay to leave it on a dry shelf?

But, even that I can forgive when I compare them to some other customers. Like, the one who left a chocolate muesli yogurt on the price check scanner. The price check scanner is not refrigerated. However, the refrigerator right next to it (as in, it is PRICE CHECKER | REFRIGERATOR ) most certainly is. Maybe next time, you could reach over, extend your arm the extra 6 inches, and put it in the big thing projecting coldness, and happily displaying other yogurts just like the one you’re carrying. This kind of laziness bothers me. Add to that the fact that now a perfectly good product has been wasted because of laziness, well, you’re just lucky that I work the day shift, and that the idiots shop at night, because I could be inclined to do some serious damage. Grrrr.

I’ve been performing my whole life. Throughout school, I was always quite the teacher’s pet. Exam seasons were my favourite parts of the school year. Obviously, I am the type of person who craves being graded. Since I am no longer actively performing, or enrolled in school, I am at quite a loss.

Essentially, the only thing I can be graded on is… this.

That is where you guys come in! I want to know what you think. About what? About all sorts of stuff!

Firstly, I want to know, what do you think about me? Sort of à la testimonials over at Calm Banana (which were, *ahem*, my idea. Ha ha.). Feel free to be honest. Do you think I am a pretentious bitch? Yes, I would like to know that!

Secondly, what do you think about the site? I know, it needs a lot of work, and to be honest, I’m not 100% sure where to begin! Since you guys visit it, you should have at least a little say (I obviously get more say, since it is a personal site, but it’s still nice to share the power, isn’t it?).

Let me know by either commenting on this entry, or, if you would like to be more discreet, use my contact form!

Right, so, that title isn’t exactly to the tune of Madonna’s “Material Girl,” but, let’s just pretend that it was.

Today, I am here to discuss the Spice Girls. Why? Because Amanda wants me to. And I love Amanda, and cave easily to peer pressure.

The Spice Girls were, easily, my first obsession. I had their CDs, posters, stickers, chocolate bars, dolls, stationery and other random things that had nothing really to do with the Girls themselves, but had somehow acquired their stamp of approval. And that was all I needed.

My real vice were the Spice Girls photos. You could buy envelopes containing 5 random pictures of the Spice Girls, to collect. I still have my collection! I have well over 150, which is quite a lot since back then I only got a 2$ allowance every week. So, you can imagine the sacrifice and the saving I had to do!

I also was a Spice Girl. At least, I was with my friends, on the street at night. That sounds odd, but, it’s true. We used to hook up my friend’s boom box (back when they were still called that), and dance and sing choreographed numbers on the road, for our neighbours. Somewhere in my parents’ collection of home movies is a film of my cousins and I playing Spice Girls.

Ever the “Baby Spice,” I was quick to sort an array of baby doll dresses (I was never one to wear pants as I child– I don’t think I wore jeans until the seventh grade!), and I obviously had giant platform shoes. My blond hair was worn in pigtails. I was so cute. It’s something I’ve never fully let go of (although I now opt for a more grown up hairstyle and flats) — I love maintaining a cute image.

Spice Fever spread throughout my house too. My brother also loved them. He also collected pictures, and made guest appearances in my performances as a Backstreet Boy. My dad used to take Scary Spice pencils to work. Because, what other construction worker-type would have a Scary Spice pencil?

The Spice Girls still influence my life today. For example, whenever I go for a walk, I often have to shout “SPICE!!!!” My dog’s name is Spice. And, although we promised my mother that it was after “the spice of life,” we all know she’s purely named after the Spice Girls.

Last summer I was in La Pocatiere, Quebec. The highlight of one weekend was when I went to the local Zellers. And what did I find?! A SPICE GIRLS LUNCHBOX! For ONE DOLLAR. You’d better believe I bought that puppy and it travelled back across the country to my house, and it now resides in a place of honour in my room.

So, yeah, the Girls still influence my life today!!