Of course I'm included in this slightly-judgmental, yet harmlessly fascinating study. Sometimes I shudder to think of how many people I appear to be shopping for, or neighboring glances wondering why anyone would buy that much cheese. And then I remember, oh yeah. Nobody notices, get over yourself and your cheese.
However, "you are what you eat" puts into question our very identity. How intriguing to think that what we eat, what we buy, how we look-- these details display our perceived identity to the majority of the world. (That is, the world we pass on the street everyday and the world we maneuver past in the canned goods aisle once a week. Not perhaps to those who matter most.) So much of life is made up of ordinary decisions and tasks like grocery shopping or getting a haircut-- can we deny the fact that these daily ventures are part of a whole life? Pebbles in a conglomerate? Yes, even our grocery lists are contributors to our complex, evolutionary identities. Nothing done weekly for a lifetime can be considered completely irrelevant to that life.
As entertaining as it is to test my theory, I know that my supermarket portraits are little more than a glimpse into someone's living room, or a peek into their walk-in closet. They are only perception of a person. Therefore, it would be a huge waste of time to worry about the stories I will conjure up about you the next time I see your grocery cart full of Fresca and Hungry Man dinners. After all, I know you only buy them for nights you work late, which lately is often. And you just happen to love Fresca on the rocks. With a twist. While you watch Jimmy Kimmel Live- with your cat, Nibbles- which is actually sometimes hilarious. But again, I know that shopping cart is only a small part of who you are and what you do and what you love. I just like to imagine- as the wheels of my cart squeak across Cub towards produce and the promised land- that your shopping cart is a rather vital piece of your whole.
