At my local Von's, there is an aisle devoted to cranberry juice and every variation you can think of. This photo is just the tip of the iceberg. It's too big for my camera.
There's 100% juice, juice cocktail, plain cran, cran with apple, cran with pomegranate, blueberry cran, raspberry cran, diet of all of the above, "light" of all of the above, generic, brand name, six-packs, gallons.
It makes me think of Andy Warhol, and Western excess.
My mother moved to the U.S. from Zimbabwe in 1970, and the grocery stores overwhelmed her with the sheer amount and variety of what should have been basic items. I finally understand what she meant.
Oh. My god.
ReplyDeleteBut also now I'm thirsty!
I feel like I've told you this before, but this reminds me of the call I was on once with some Ocean Spray marketing execs, and they reminded us to "keep things bogcentric".
It was then that I understood why people hate marketing people.
Oh oh oh! Also I think it's hilarious that my latest update also included a cranberry juice mention!
ReplyDeleteWow. Just wow. I'm going to have to check the shelves at my local grocery store to see if this is just a California phenomenon.
ReplyDeleteI took that pic... you're looking at only half of what was on display. Maybe.
ReplyDeleteHoly Cow, that's amazing. I guess our grocery aisle looks similar, but I'm not a huge juice drinker (unless I make my own) so usually skip that section. And, your mother moved from Zimbabwe? That is an intriguing line ... has any of that worked into your writing?
ReplyDeleteHi Tess, my mother's "backstory" so to speak is a great one! I think I'll definitely have to write about it at some point. My father was in law school, spending time in Africa studying tribal law, and she was the librarian who helped him find some books. Six months later they were married and living in the U.S. Talk about culture shock.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid, we were way poor, so we couldn't afford the finer things in life like Ocean Spray. So every time we went to my grandparents house, I'd drink like an entire bottle of Cran-Grape.
ReplyDeleteSeeing all that cranberry juice makes me so happy and nostalgic...
Miranda, I remember being delighted by the items my grandma had in her kitchen, specifically the chocolate sauce that hardened when you put it on icecream. I wish I could remember what it was called.
ReplyDelete