I’ve Learned My Lesson – Maybe

I think I may have learned my lesson. Or maybe not. Who knows?

With the skyrocketing prices of groceries and everything else at the big box store, I got the impulse to break my habit of always buying name-brand products.

Maybe it was the commercials I watched when I was younger that compelled me to buy the 'good stuff'. Subliminal advertising at its best. I don't see many commercials for canned food these days. I usually fast forward through commercials because I do not want the drugs that make up half the commercials on television today. I also have no use for insurance, lawyers, or cars. I could list more but I can't think of them right now.

Remember the cute commercials we baby boomers grew up on? 'Ho! Ho! Ho! Green Giant.' 'I can't believe I ate the whole thing.' 'The time of your life.' 'Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is.' They made commercials where we knew what they were selling. They added jingles that most of us can probably still sing today. Just one or two cords and we knew what was being sold.

Now when I don't fast-forward through the commercials, I still have no idea what they're peddling. No subliminal advertising is being used. They try to be cute but honestly, their little stories have nothing to do with the product. Don't ya just love the ones for drugs we can't pronounce where the people are having the best times of their lives while the announcer spends most of the time listing all the bad things that can happen if you take it? Don't listen to me, he's saying; just focus on the happy people. It's crazy.

But I digress, as usual. Anyway, I decided to try a few generic products and I think I'm regretting it already. For example, the canned vegetables just aren't as good, in my opinion, as the name brand. I guess to cut costs, they cut taste. One grandson wanted some strawberry syrup instead of chocolate for his ice cream. I also bought the least expensive, and I'm regretting both choices. Ice cream can be disguised if you add enough syrup but not this time. I opened the strawberry syrup, poured it on his ice cream, and watched a pink river pool in the bottom of the bowl. It was literally pink water. I haven't gotten up my nerve to open the generic caramel syrup.

I made the same mistake the other day with shampoo and conditioner. I've never been overly picky about purchasing products in the health and beauty aisle but I'm drawing the line in the sand on this one. I will keep buying generic over-the-counter medications, though. I think I've learned my lesson. Maybe.