Anecdote

[Guest guest]

Hi folks:

I was standing in the checkout line in a supermarket in a jewish

neighborhood a couple of days ago. In front of me was a ~60 year

old, trim, healthy looking female who had only very healthy foods in

her cart.

As I sometimes do in such circumstances I said to her: " You know, if

you are not very careful, eating stuff like that you may live to be

100. " She smiled at the compliment and a discussion ensued (as it

usually does).

She had an exotic looking fruit among her items so I asked her: " Are

those things good? " At that moment a man dressed as if he might be

the local rabbi was walking past (not that I would recognize a rabbi

if my life depended on it). Without missing a step he turned as he

continued on his way and said: " Eating kosher is good. "

So I asked: " Is eating kosher healthy? "

This stopped him in his tracks! He turned, and after a few seconds

reflection, with extraordinary open-mindedness, he replied: " I don't

know if it is healthy. But it is good. "

So I said: " Well, I eat for my health. "

To which he replied, with a big smile: " Yes, I can tell that from

looking at you! "

Of course he was being polite. But I suspect we all had big smiles

on our faces for quite some time afterwards.

Rodney.

[Guest guest]

I too practice shopping cart voyeurism but find it more disturbing than amusing. I routinely have more than 2-3x the fruit and veggies of any other cart I see and I'm shopping for one adult not a whole family with kids. More likely I'll get a comment from the checkout girl about how I must really like my vegetables, usually with a hint of disdain as many of the vegetables are not barcoded and can't be scanned. I don't mind the occasional need to help distinguish the serranos from the jalapenos, Just last night the girl rang up some anaheim peppers as pablanos and I didn't bother to correct her to avoid the extra delay, they all cost about the same. I am often surprised by the number of younger workers that don't even recognize a sweet potato, garlic,  or some of the more common stuff.  Perhaps if I was shopping in a big city "whole foods" market instead of a central MS Walmart my experience wouldn't be so universally dismal....======Regarding Kosher food being healthy, and this almost borders on science fiction, just imagine if we were visited in the distant past by some superior intelligence who wanted to pass along some healthy advice in a way that would be preserved and followed by the ignorant masses. Many religious dietary guidelines seem strangely health oriented (what ever happened to fish on Friday?). Even the periodic fasting practiced by some religions may some day be proven extremely beneficial, albeit perhaps not exactly how they practice it today, but who knows, not me.  Of course a simpler explanation is that these dietary rules or guidelines came from lifetimes of simple observation. JROn Aug 10, 2006, at 9:06 PM, Rodney wrote:Hi folks:I was standing in the checkout line in a supermarket in a jewish neighborhood a couple of days ago. In front of me was a ~60 year old, trim, healthy looking female who had only very healthy foods in her cart.As I sometimes do in such circumstances I said to her: "You know, if you are not very careful, eating stuff like that you may live to be 100." She smiled at the compliment and a discussion ensued (as it usually does).She had an exotic looking fruit among her items so I asked her: "Are those things good?" At that moment a man dressed as if he might be the local rabbi was walking past (not that I would recognize a rabbi if my life depended on it). Without missing a step he turned as he continued on his way and said: "Eating kosher is good."So I asked: "Is eating kosher healthy?"This stopped him in his tracks! He turned, and after a few seconds reflection, with extraordinary open-mindedness, he replied: "I don't know if it is healthy. But it is good."So I said: "Well, I eat for my health."To which he replied, with a big smile: "Yes, I can tell that from looking at you!"Of course he was being polite. But I suspect we all had big smiles on our faces for quite some time afterwards.Rodney.