Weather It Is (The Bionic Shopper)

Good Afternoon:

I had occasion to shop at the Rami-Levy in Gush Etzion the other day. This is a well-run super-market! I have to say that I was really impressed: I saw the employees working diligently, rapidly, and conscientiously.  I also spoke to one, who was also quite helpful.  These employees were almost all Arab people from villages local to Gush Etzion.

You see, in many places (since the last war ended in 2002), Jews and "Palestinians" have build up economic relationships benefiting both sides.  These are peaceful relationships between Jewish (Israelis) and Arab (Palestinians).  For this reason, I can understand why the BDS movement seeks to end such relationships.  They hope to lead the Palestinians to poverty, hoping they will rise up and eventually destroy the State of Israel -- as in: they don't like Jews (too bad that the 20% of the Israeli population that isn't Jewish, like Druse, Christians, and Israeli-Arabs will suffer too).

I also was privy to notice something else.  Have you ever compared how men and women shop?  The women move slowly from isle to isle, checking prices, checking food quality, and watching where they are going.  The men shop like the "Bionic" (i.e., Six Million Dollar) Man.  They speed from location to location, throwing whatever is (or isn't) on their list into their cart.  For men, time is money,  while for women: money is money. Now who is smarter?

I am one of those shoppers and I can complete the Rami Levi circuit in under an hour and return home triumphantly with my car filled with groceries.  The problem is that fast is not always smart and so it was that the third container of  (Smoked) Eggplant salad became to be stacked upon the second container of Eggplant salad.

"I just asked for 'Babaganoush,'" she said.  "Isn't it," I replied?

Now, men don't need to get in trouble for being efficient, economical, and efficacious in their shopping.  But those men are not married to wives who simply want a simple Eggplant salad with mayonnaise  Well, now I know, and the time (i.e., pit-stop) I spent idling last week will be better spent grabbing the right salad and going on to the next item.

It seems often that married life is a bit of push and pull.  The men pull and the women push them back into line.  Likewise, our weather system seems to be suffering from the same "malaise." Our summer (desert heat-low) weather pattern tries to establish itself in the eastern Mediterranean, only to be knocked for a loop by a persistent trough over northern Europe and weak low pressure areas rotating around it into our area.  Cold air is more dense than warm air and our desert low is no match for these European small troughs (or at least not a very tough one).

Still, like the shopper who's willing to brave the supermarket again, it keeps coming back for more.  The end result, a little bit warmer, a little bit cooler, and no-one's thinking that it's too hot.

Barry Lynn