Everything is so complicated

Going to the grocery store used to be a simple project. The wife gave you a list of what was needed, like bread, milk, cheese, coffee and shortening.

Most of my contemporaries I meet in the stores these days are as confused as I am. It takes hours to make our purchases. For instance, milk. There is cow’s milk – nonfat, 1 percent fat, 2 percent fat, or regular milk. There is goat’s milk, buttermilk, and a dozen other varieties, such as almond milk, soy milk, coconut milk, almond/ coconut milk, evaporated milk, and condensed milk. Which did she mean?

Most of the people of the retired generation were raised on homemade biscuits and/or cornbread. Now we are having to choose between white bread, wheat bread, oat bread, nut breads, glutenfree bread, and a couple of dozen others.

One day recently an elderly man was searching through all the breads. I asked if I could help him find something. He said, “Yes, my wife wrote down I should get 15 percent protein, mixed seven-grain bread, and I cannot see it.”

I helped him look for a few minutes, and then I spotted it. He muttered something. I said, “Huh?” He said, “That’s Korean for thank you!” He laughed and patted my shoulder.

Coffee. What can I say? In what form do you buy it? K-cup or No.2 cup, decaf or regular? Endless varieties.

One of my grandsons is a major food store manager. He says he wants to switch to being a teacher. Less stressful, he believes. I suspect he is right.

— Louis Houston is a resident of Siloam Springs. His book “The Grape-Toned Studebaker” is available locally and from Amazon. com. Send any questions or comments to louis1931@ gmail.com or call 524-6926. The opinions expressed are those of the author.