For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for December 08, 2019

nice point there. that’ll make mom think.

touché, Elizabeth… this coming from a grocery store employee who’s been hired since early November (yes, I’m no longer a Salvation Army donation trailer attendant as some of you other GoComics commentators know me; I was laid-off late September)

I too hate those space-eating aisle displays. I never buy anything off them.

I read somewhere recently, maybe a GoComics comment, about a former Soviet resident who sat down in the aisle and cried because he was overwhelmed by the number of choices. He had never had choices before apparently,

Similar to what Jack Ryan tells Capt. Ramius and crew when they ask about life in the US and start asking details about his description of a grocery store.

Well said Lizzie, bless you.

A slap in the face with a huge dose of reality eh Elly?

Every Spring when the winter fruit is still out and the summer fruit is coming in I reflect that it was not very long ago that only powerful heads of state had such a selection.

And in the U.K. we have loads of people having to use food banks as they can’t afford food because of a government that doesn’t care about them. They’re “not our type of people” according to one politician. And it’s about to get worse once Johnson gets in. Dickens in turning in his grave.

Funny the topic about moving items. One week I went to my local Safeway Supermarket, and all the items that had been on one side of the condiments and soft drink aisles were now on the opposite side. The items that were sitting there before were now in the locations of the mentioned moved items. Heads became tails and tails became heads. ….WHY!?

Try looking at an average grocery store while getting SNAP benefits. Your budget is less than $1.50 per meal. And they want to cut people off from that.

This is very valid. Several Cubans came to live in my house. They were overwhelmed by the number of choices in Safeway!

And so the teacher becomes the student.

❤️

Lynn’s Comments:

Every now and then I did a serious and reflective punch line. I had to. This wouldn’t have been a realistic look inside the home of a North American family if the characters took their good health and good fortune for granted. Not everyone has the luxury of being able to buy groceries like this!

The amount and quality of the food we have is mind-bending. The choice is probably a double-edged sword. Too many choices— not options we need like gluten-free for celiacs or sugar-free for diabetics, but 90 types of breakfast cereal— makes us indecisive and anxious, not to mention most of the choices are things we shouldn’t eat, and having them there is not a healthy thing. Although I certainly enjoy it, we would be healthier to stay around the edges of the store and to truly appreciate that we have access to so many quality, cheap vegetables, fruits, grains and meats year-round.

Lynn’s Comments: Every now and then I did a serious and reflective punch line. I had to. This wouldn’t have been a realistic look inside the home of a North American family if the characters took their good health and good fortune for granted. Not everyone has the luxury of being able to buy groceries like this!

Relax, and grab that copy of “DINK” magazine and take it easy… :-P

When I think back to the groceries of the 1950’s, today’s seem miraculous. What a stodgy bunch of stuff we were offered. The most exotic item was a Swanson’s TV dinner. You could choose white bread or brown colored white bread. For cheese, choose cheddar or swiss, both like plastic.

She must be shopping at Meijers.

I was career military. After I returned from deployments, one of my first visits was always to a super market or a mall, just so I could remind myself how lucky I am to have been born here.

I remember seeing this Sunday strip the first time (I think) when it was published a few decades ago and it really stuck with me ever since. Very good work, Lynn.

In America, we are so blessed, except for the mass shootings and rise in crime!!

I’m happy the grocery store is 5 minutes from my house. Many people do not have a store nearby.

I’ll bet Lynn had a lot of fun making up the names for the products on the shelves.

Well, that all got pretty ugly. I do hope that America continues to help the needy and hungry in this country and the rest of the world. We have the “bounty” and would be greedy to not share it with the less fortunate.

There’s a certain irony in this comic. True the supermarkets in the U.S. offer a plethora of grocery and non-grocery items unknown in other countries, but at what cost? The cost of food in the United States is not cheap. There may be a greater variety of items to choose from but the price is high, comparatively.

When I lived in Florida, I couldn’t get out of Publix or Winn-Dixie for under $100+ every time I shopped – and I am a very careful shopper. My grocery/non-grocery budget for a given month – just for myself – ran close to $500.

Here in Ecuador, we spend approximately $400 per month on grocery and non-grocery items between the supermarket, and the mercados ( open markets ) and tiendas ( little neighborhood stores).

That $400 or so, not only provides for my wife and myself but provides for two other incapacitated adults and helps out our two sons and their families. So basically, that money is easily stretched out over 12 people.

Lizzy is such a sweetie!!! The glasses make SO MUCH CUTER too! <3

And a child will lead them….

From the mouths of babes…AND of course Lynn !!!! lol

Don’t worry Lizzie, your namesake Lizzie Warren will put a stop to all this bounty if she is elected!

You can have too many choices. It makes for difficulties in deciding.

Out of the mouths of babes…

I don’t like when Walmart rearranges their store, either.

Oh, Elizabeth. You are so cute and so wrong. Elly’s problem is not buying the groceries, but complaining about how the grocery store is organized and operated. She would make the same complaints even if she could only afford to buy one item and if the grocery store only sold one item.