A few days ago *h came home to find 8 large bottles of water on our front porch. This was quite concerning to him, since, being from a small island nation (England), he gets the heebie jeebies whenever he sees food packaged in large quantities.
Yes, after all these years of me buying in bulk, *h still hasn’t fully embraced the idea that to feed and care for a big family takes mucho stuff. It’s not that he doesn’t try, bless his heart, but he still thinks that a 5 pound bag of flour sounds like a lot (we buy the 50 pound bags). If I don’t specify how many of something I want at the grocery store, *h will sometimes buy 1, rather than calling home and asking me how many he should get. This is because he knows his fears will be realized and I will likely ask him to buy about a dozen. Poor guy.
He also got very stressed out that we have “too much” cereal downstairs. Now, in my mind “too much” of something like cereal means that either we don’t have space for it, or that there is so much that it will go stale before we can finish it. In his mind “too much” means we have more than a few, or more than we need for our next meal, or more than he remembers having in his house when he grew up (one at a time maybe?). Currently we have about 20 boxes. When I told him that, in the event of a crisis, that would not even last us a week he was mortified. Apparently he didn’t realize that we have two teenage boys in the house. And I won’t tell you how quickly we go through 20 boxes…
So this got us talking about exactly what is in our pantry and what quantities of each thing item we have on hand. *h feels overwhelmed by the stock and I feel vastly underprepared. Since I can recite the foods and the counts off the top of my head at any given time, I usually have a pretty good idea of the state of affairs of the Bass family situation. This is how I broke it down for *h:
I don’t come to your job and tell you that you have too many files or too many computer windows open or too many staplers on your desk. I don’t try to rearrange your things in your briefcase or micromanage your meeting schedule, so PLEASE do not try to manage my job either.
Basically, I am the CEO of the Bass family.
*h can be the CFO and we can work together to run the company, but I was really feeling like there were too many chiefs and not enough indians. I don’t think it is unreasonable since I do the shopping (or at least some of the shopping- and the menu planning and list making) and the cooking that I should also be in charge of inventory control. We are not in debt because of food-hoarding, nor or we struggling to find space in cramped quarters because I have jam-packed our house with food and supplies (although in my dreams I would). It’s not like we have a zillion cans of cat food and no cat because I impulse-buy things we don’t need, and I certainly don’t buy even half the amount I think I should buy to store up for a true emergency (this is something I think needs to be negotiated with the CFO and not done behind his back…). So I truly don’t understand the buttons this pushes in him- except that this is not how he grew up.
The first time I went to England and realized that people had no basements and very little storage in their homes, I got a little bit of insight into the buy-only-what-you-can-use thing. Their fridges are tiny compared to ours, but their stores (the shops! or shoppes?) are like a few blocks away at all times. So everyone is constantly walking on over to the shops to get about 10 minutes worth of groceries which they then carry home and cook. What culture shock it must have been for my in-laws the first time they came here and saw a gallon jar of mayonnaise in my fridge! hahahahahahaha…
I remember the first time I brought home a 5 gallon bucket of laundry detergent from Costco. *h came home from work and was absolutely incredulous. I think he thought I was pranking him or something. He really thought we would never use it up. Ha! The next time I went to Costco I brought him with and his eyes were wide with astonishment- I guess that pretty much sums up America in a nutshell. We like to do everything big and excessive. But if you have a large family, buying in bulk is awesome.
Over the years I have found cheaper ways to buy in bulk than Costco, but I still get lots of things in mass quantity. *h has reconciled to the idea that his wife is somewhat eccentric, and I guess he just chalks it up to that. But I truly save the family buckets of money.
And if there is ever a problem, we can always eat cereal.
At least for a few days😉
Jul 13, 2014 @ 16:28:07
I don’t buy groceries, I buy commodities. I make meals from them. In our house, going shopping means going to the pantry or to the back room where the canning is. Or to one of the two freezers. So I understand entirely where you are coming from!
Jul 13, 2014 @ 20:55:49
“Basically, I am the CEO of the Bass family.”
Julie, I had a hard tie reading the whole thing because I already understand.
t me this all makes perfect sense. Welcome (just in case nobody ever gave you amerit badge) to the world of “preppers”.!!
We can’t expect others to understand. We do what we feel is the right thing.
To whom are you apologizing? Consider: our great great grandmothers would now be on the “no fly” list from Dept National Security because they had the audacity to have a shotgun, a root cellar full of canned goods, a home garden, thought being debt was bad and home-schooled their kids.
OMG!! Subversives to the max!
But nowadays, when we do the same things, we get targeted by Uncle Sugar’s news media and… film at 11:
HOUSEWIFE STORES FOOD! HOUSEWIFE GROWS FOOD IN SUBURBIA!
WIFE GOES CRAZY AND BUYS CHICKENS!!!
This is of course all nonsense to keep the sheep in line.
i forgive *H* for his ignorance and applaud your efforts but gosh, shouldn’t the CEO get her employees all on the same page? I suggest you make *H* attend classes to get him up to speed.
Begin here, FEMA is a recognized source he can understand.
http://www.ready.gov/
See? it’s “the government” so they can be trusted, right?
Bottom line of the site is
“make a kit, have a plan”.
It is actually a high quality website run by Uncle Sam containing very good info about what one should think about to survive a temporary emergency.
As CEO you should schedule a class, force *H* to attend.
I am a military veteran (cold war) so know General Order #1:
“I WILL TAKE CHARGE OF MY POST”.
Seems simple enough but the implications are profound and a whole lot of fun.
Consider: a person of Almost no rank can stop a General and demand his papers, require to see his restricted area badge, counsel him (or her) that to get past me you must obey the rules, and (here’s the fun part…..) that person of little rank can strip the M-16 off his shoulder, bang the buttstock against the tarmac and it injects a round into the chamber and you draw down on the captain of a fighter plane saying “Sir, show me your badge”.
All in one swift movement.
And that 2 striper can shut down the whole frickin base until the issue is resolved. No shit, it’s true.
Julie, do you see the implications of the power you have, should you decide to use it? Do you realize the immense Power at your disposal?
….or, if one is Andy Griffith and only has a .38 revolver… as an air force cop performing cop duties and you detect a car swerving in the housing areas or elsewhere on base, like any cop you pull the guy over, right? Make sure there is no medical emergency, find out what’s going on, etc.
…. “Sir, you are drunk.. You have 2 choices. Let me drive you home or if you think you can drive yourself home I will follow you to make sure you get there safely”. Kind of wakes them up for that last mile having a cop behind them who could ruin their career or just forget it ever happened.
Power Baby! You have the Power as CEO. But it must be used with discretion.
i have done both and all the above.
So, as CEO, you command the Capt. Kirk Chair of Starship Seattle.
I have done somethings like that many times so understand the profound implications of being in charge.
“RISK IS OUR BUSINESS”
I trust your judgment and know you will use your Powers wisely.
Don’t be afraid to be a “prepper”. But also don;t advertise it, lest thee be looted on a bad day.
Take *H* by the hand, make him understand.
Make him read the
http://www.ready.gov/
website. As CEO, you can do that or he gets cat food for breakfast. HA!
FIRMNESS, KINDNESS, PATIENCE
gRANT
Jul 14, 2014 @ 10:53:05
having grown up in the UK, in a family sustained by two women (mum and gran, both underpaid), who had both experienced living with food-stamps and food shortages in WWII… I can fully appreciate the sense of “ENORMOUS” that *h must feel when shopping at Costco, or any other low-price bulk shopping warehouse. poor guy! lol
Jul 14, 2014 @ 11:53:54
I like to know we can do OK for several days in case there is snow or something. I also like to have the next bottle/box in the armoire when the one we are using runs out.
Jul 15, 2014 @ 16:42:51
I’ve got you.. I don’t like one to come in my kitchen domain and cut up all the onions/ peppers and put them in containers for “ease” .try to rearrange the forks and knife drawer for “efficiency” insist stuff needs to be on the kitchen counter, med bottles, water bottles, pencil/pen holder, three typesof paper towels….etc…I am a put it away sort so living with this gentleman has expanded my sense of correctedness….He is tool man. if i rearranged his tools bahhhhjahhhhhhh. Thanks for a heartfelt note!
Jul 15, 2014 @ 21:11:21
Yoni read this one with me, and we decided in our family we have opposite roles. Yoni never thinks we have enough food and I think we have more than enough (he grew up with a mom from two families that survived the holocaust…).
In his words, “A FULL freezer is a HAPPY freezer.”🙂