Saturday 8 May 2021

Price comparison


I am thinking of a man called Jim who lived in Bath before he threw himself into the river a couple of years ago. He had become sick and tired of repeating the same old petty chores day after day in his effort to stay alive. 

Jim was the sort of bloke who would vent his frustrations by swearing at pigeons and taxis, and although he gave the impression of being mentally ill, he really was not. In the pub he was courteous enough. Not to be so would have dried up the supply of  tobacco given to him by several regulars who knew that he was always on the very edge of destitution. I was once sitting on a bench outside another pub when he walked past me without acknowledgement. I asked him where he was off to and he answered without looking up, "Mind your own fucking business'.

I was standing in an aisle of Waitrose the other day, staring at the array of olive oils and trying to decide which was the least expensive by comparing prices to volume. In the end it made no difference, so I bought a couple of tablespoons for £1.80. I had forgotten to buy the excellent Spanish extra virgin olive oil from Lidl, and I was forced to get some from the outrageously expensive rip-off merchants who pretend  that their company is owned by their shareholder 'partners' who no longer receive any dividends. In reality, Waitrose's prime function is to keep John Lewis afloat at any cost. The situation has not been helped by Boris's refusal to have his apartment furnished using their goods. I would never had heard of Lulu Lytle if it were not for Boris's long-term fiancĂ©.

Example: Two free-range chicken breasts from Lidl, £3.40. Two free-range chicken breasts from Waitrose, £9.90. This is not an uncommon price difference, and Waitrose prices rise daily. 

So anyway, I was staring at the olive oils with mounting resentment in my breast and - thinking I was completely alone in the long aisle - said the word 'cunts' quite loudly several times before picking up the little bottle.

Just then I heard a freezer door slam behind me and looked round to see the back of a friend who would normally stop and have a chat, walking swiftly away in the hope he would not be recognised.

I must have seemed like Jim to him then and I don't think it will help if I try to explain my behaviour by saying that I thought I was alone. A couple of months ago he created a handyman's job for me in his house because he knew I needed it.  He is a good man who thinks I am beginning to crack under the strain. Perhaps I am.

43 comments:

  1. Hang on in there - things can only get better. And on the subject of olive oil - I am a Rick Stein fan and watched him in Iceland last evening - somebody asked him why he always cooked in butter rather than in olive oil and he said' 'because we are a Northern country and we have plenty of cows!' Worth thinking about!

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    1. That's what Tony Blair said and now look. Butter contains too much water for frying, I think. Also, have you seen the price of butter in Waitrose?!

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    2. LOL. While watching Rick cooking his lamb chops I was enjoying three cutlets, organically raised 1 mile from my home, gently fried in wonderful butter produced by a local dairy.
      Accompanied by local organically grown purple sprouting and potatoes, and local asparagus.
      I draw a line at the local wine at £13.00 a bottle. The asparagus is not so good this year as until recently the weather's been both dry and cold. Hopefully this currently foul but warmer weather will bring it on a bit.

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    3. The asparagus crop has failed here owing to frost and no warmth.

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    4. Waitrose has a trick of putting a £4 bottle of wine marked at £8,99 (never a straight £9) then reducing it to £6.99 knowing that the customers they want to attract will not notice or even care if they do.

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  2. I cook with lard, goose fat, duck fat or beef dripping. I have only bought olive oil once and couldn't see the point of it and I got in a muddle because it got too hot. Your Waitrose seems very expensive.

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    1. We in the West are told not to cook with olive oil, but the whole of the Middle East and North Africa (and more recently Spain, Italy, etc. etc.) have been doing so for thousands of years without any apparent ill effects, whereas rumour has it that exclusive use of animal fat does not do your heart much good. I love fats such as that from geese or duck, but not every day. I like olive oil. I would not like to live without it, but could if I had to.

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  3. You are definitely not going to be a sad character like Jim, but he was a character and that is a good thing. I like goats butter it is salty and Lurpak when it comes down in price and shall feel less guilty knowing that in Iceland everyone cooks in butter.

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    1. And the traditional Inuit eats a lot of blubber and seal fat for a main course, but they are not exactly in Mediterranean conditions.

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  4. ps. I'm looking forward to being together with friends to scrabble again in the hope of getting an F a G and both Bs in one hand.

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    1. I am trying to think of an obscene word which uses all those. Am I supposed to?

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  5. Good job he wasn't sitting unnoticed in the back seat of your car if it's anything like what he'd hear in my car.

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    1. You don't have to be inside my car to clearly hear what I think about other people's driving.

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  6. The good thing about Waitrose is the clientele......well, it used to be.....
    You have to pick your way around the spittle and soggy fag ends to find the door to our local Tesco.

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    1. Not any more. They make the lower orders grovel at the lowest shelves to buy what they call 'Essential' food of an inferior quality to the stuff easily within reach. If the things are at the back of the shelf, you literally have to get on your knees. I have come to despise the engendered Waitrose snobbery.

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  7. I've been worried about you and Northsider both. Things seem to be relaxing a bit here. Hopefully that does not bite us in the ass. But I do hope that things get better for you both...soon.

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    1. Thank you Debby. In many ways I am so much more fortunate than many others.

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  8. I have just recently moved to a town here in the United States where I have access to a Lidl, which I am familiar with from Germany. Whenever I buy their blackberries for $1.99, which would cost me $3.50 at a different store, I wonder: How do they do it?

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    1. A combination of massive buying power and paying fewer employees a good wage. There are no security guards hanging around in Lidl waiting to catch sad alcoholics as there are in Waitrose, and even Waitrose writes-off loss due to undetected shoplifting. I once went to Lidl in Britain, then the next day I was in a Lidl in Northern Germany. The stock was identical. Massive buying power.

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    2. Having said that, Lidl has increased their procurement of local produce by a far greater extent than Waitrose. Most of the green vegetables in Waitrose now are flown in from Spain, and the British produce they stock is hyped-up as 'artisan' or some such crap, with the moral onus to buy it at inflated prices placed firmly on the shoulders of their wealthy customers. Same with the pretend 'partners'. Either buy our stuff or people may lose their jobs, is how they put more pressure on us.

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    3. Aha! Artisan vegetables- now there’s a thing.

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    4. Yes. Nothing to do with God.

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  9. I love olive oil though I don´t use it for cooking, too expensive, but the extra virgin is perfect for salad dressing.

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  10. I wonder if "cracking under the strain" isn't the key concept of the piece and cooking fat became the easy way out for commenting.
    Sometimes I wonder what the strain of loneliness may do to me. I do know it won't be the weir. And in the meantime, I pay 3.50 for the blackberries and blueberries because there is no Lidle near me. But it is a tiny, independent grocery. The owners live right down the road. in a tiny house. At least I know who the money supports.

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    1. It must have been much harder for you to have been bringing up two young girls and suddenly having to let them go to get on with their own lives. Oh well, at least you had the privilege of being able to do that. I wouldn't choose the weir either. I almost don't mind paying a bit more to a small family company, but I hate throwing money into a struggling giant's coffers.

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  11. I like using butter and extra virgin olive oil together. The combined flavors work well. With all the social distancing and mask wearing, some people are avoiding others. Is it a by-product of covid? Everyone has been impacted in some way. Off days are to be forgiven.

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    1. Yes, I often mix butter with olive oil. It works well. If you are talking about my friend avoiding others, then yes, I often hide behind things in supermarkets when I see someone I know, simply because I cannot be bothered to go through all the small talk.

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  12. I doubt that last comment was one of your regulars, Tom!

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  13. As long as there is an alternative to Waitrose, why not just let the people who like to shop there do it without ranting about them? Many people I know like both Lidl and Waitrose and they should be able to shop where they like.

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    1. Because I live 20 feet away from Waitrose and 2 miles away from Lidl, that's why. I don't think you understand how a trendy city like Bath works, Jenny. Anyway, I will rant about whatever and whoever I bleeding well like. Ok with you?

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  14. I would shop in Waitrose every day if we had one .....
    And I don’t live in Brazil
    Fucking hell ...I hate Brazil today

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  15. I don't cook with olive oil very much ..... I prefer sunflower oil for cooking as it's lighter ..... and, a lot cheaper !!! Goose fat or beef dripping for roast potatoes { which we don't have too often !!! } and olive oil to make salad dressing ..... maybe I should cook with olive oil a bit more ..... it's far better for us. XXXX

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    1. I think it is to do with the flash point of different oils. Olive is quite low I believe.

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  16. I try to cook with olive oil as much as possible as I make as many blue zone recipes as I can. I much prefer it. I especially like to dunk bread in it. nice and nutty tasting with a zing of cut grass. lovely. p.s. maybe in Bath they are fortifying themselves with Waitrose food before visiting the library? I dont know if libraries are open in England yet? We only get a van here.

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    1. The library over Waitrose is/was under threat - from Waitrose, or the Podium company which owns the building. They have already chucked out the small businesses to expand. And people wonder why I rant about Waitrose.

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  17. Half and half olive oil and butter or lard or duckfat, is the BEST sauteeing combo. So tasty.

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