The Ladies’ Home Journal, September 1948

Grocery Shopping Tips for Pre-Depression

I got the feeling I was about to hit a brick wall in the near future, so, with a little encouragement from my Discord friends, I went grocery shopping for easy-prep meals for the next week or so. Here’s some tips on doing the thing!

Note: not all of these tips are the most 100% budget friendly. I am in a situation where I can afford to weight easy-to-prepare over buying in bulk and making things myself so they cost less. The balance may lie in a different place for you and your budget, and all I encourage you to do is your best.

No one cares what you’re wearing in a grocery store.

This one’s from personal experience, having worked grocery. If you show up in a pair of pajama pants and a T-shirt, that’s not going to throw anyone off. If you’re literally wearing a hoody and shorts, no one’s going to raise a fuss. Just put some clothes on and go.

Stop at the deli for ready-to-eat.

In my case, this was potato salad and cabbage rolls (and ambrosia salad), but there were plenty of options for ‘nuke it and call it a meal’ dinners, as well as soups. Your friendly deli person can take ‘I’m looking for something pre-made for dinner this week’ and guide you toward what’s fresh and what’s good.

Do buy larger sizes if you don’t know when the next time you’ll have energy to grocery is.

The particular item that this applied most to for me was honey: I opted for a larger size than I usually do, because I know that depression and cool weather both lead me toward tea-drinking, and I don’t know when shopping will happen.

Buying in bulk can also cost less, if that’s something you’re taking into consideration.

Do buy the ‘fun’ varieties.

For example, one of me depression meals tends to be oatmeal, because it’s quick and doesn’t require actual cooking. Today I bought the dino egg oatmeal for kids, because I thought it’d make me smile. I also got a slightly fancier brand of ramen than usual, because I thought it’d be more likely to get me to eat when all I can manage is a ramen.

Do buy a post-grocery treat for yourself.

You deserve it for making it through the trip. A box or two of Botan rice candy, or a candy bar at the check out is not a bad thing.

The simpler the prep, the better.

Minute rice cups that you can nuke and be done with? Great! Uncle Ben’s rice packets? Superb! Tuna fish pre-flavored packets? Amazing! Uncrustables? Dandy!

Do try and manage a smile for your cashier.

Again, from my personal experience in this position. We can tell you want to be done and out of here as fast as possible. We can tell if you’re frustrated with how slow you’re going. Cashiers are underpaid and stressed and have been on their feet for hours. Give them civility, if not outright pleasantness.

Adonis, tr. by Khaled Mattawa, Selected Poems

There are no rules on when to be productive.

If you cannot function in the morning

You can do your work, homework, chores, etc. at 3am

You can go grocery shopping at 11:29pm on a thursday

You can shower, make your bed, brush your teeth at 3pm

You can write an essay in your bed at 9pm and go to bed at 1am

Don't force yourself to wake up at 5am to be productive and then think the day's ruined when you wake at noon

Doing something in a weird way is still doing something

Motivational Sidewalk Drawing

Now that’s a GOOD plan.

Listen, I’m part of the generation that uses humor to cope, I love all the memes about 2020 just as much as you guys do. I laugh at the “we got the real roaring 20′s”, “we wanted 2020 to be a movie but we got the wrong genre”, “we really thought 2020 would be our year” sardonic tweets.

But to the people like me, who really thought 2020 would be their year?

Love, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry you walked into this year with a smile and hope, and that smile immediately fell, and that hope was immediately crushed

I’m sorry that every day there’s something else, I’m sorry that you’re scared, I’m sorry that you’re angry, I’m sorry that you’re tired.

And I know, I know that you’re having a hard time hoping again. Trust me, I know.

But this year, Adam Castillejo became the second person to be cured of HIV

This year, James Patterson art up a fund to help Indie bookstores

This year, scientists finally managed to record the narwhal 

This year, White Storks have hatched the first wild chicks in 600 years

This year, the worlds largest open-air gallery was opened with paintings by individuals with learning disabilities

This year, an eleven year old skateboarder landed the worlds first 1080 degree turn

This year, scientists mapped the entire surface of the moon for the first time ever

This year, Sweden and Austria closed their last coal plants

This year, White Tailed Eagles are spotted flying over England for the first time in 240 years

This year, NASA launched astronauts to a US space station for the first time since 2011

To all the people like me, who thought 2020 was their year: We’re here. We’re alive. The world will grow. The world will heal. Maybe 2020 isn’t our year of stress free fun and memories, but it can be our year to learn and stand up and fight, so that next year? We get everything we hoped for.

Don’t give up, don’t leave. There’s a world waiting for you.

Entering the Kingdom by Mary Oliver