Copyright Victoria Elizabeth 2004. All rights reserved.
STOP THE WORLD…I WANT TO GET OFF! — Or, what was the world
like before brand-names & blah-blah-blah? –
Inundated with more than 10,000 messages a day, it’s not
surprising that many folks prefer to go “bonkers” than see
another blessed advertisement for things guaranteed to cure all
manner of ills and bring us joy life ever after.
You know the ones I mean …restore your venal vigor in just one
hour (for just $49.95 plus tax), …renovate your tinkle pantry
in 7 days (based on an easy, affordable, installment payment
plan), … make you rich in less than 21 days (all credit cards
accepted for this “best-selling” tips book), …or enhance your
private parts for life (using a miracle formula available at a
50% discount, if purchased within the next five minutes on the
Shopping Channel).
It would be nice to think that we’re okay just the way we are.
The truth is that the world goes better when we buy stuff, and I
mean oodles of it, even if we don’t really need it.
With so many “brand-name” and “brand-less” products competing
for shelf space and “mind share” — it’s no wonder we’re pooped
and need the occasional pick-me-up or put-me-to-sleep pill!
After all, being bombarded by those ‘buy now…before it’s too
late’ ads, text messages, and infomercials on TV, radio, cell
phones, magazines and now embedded in emails isn’t much fun. The
astonishing thing is how people cope with this dilemma by
calling on some familiar escape goats such as daydreaming,
dawdling or simply dumping on others.
As little as a century or two ago, no one obsessed about buying
“brand-name” products “to impress a boss”, “bewitch a suitor” or
“to keep up with the wretched Jones’s”.
For those who didn’t like being told what to do, there were
plenty of things to engage their talents besides wading through
the holy scriptures, the sports page, or sharing the latest
interactive electronic exploits of “Dick and Jane or Puff and
Spot in the Dungeon” with friends.
In fact, far from having their head in the clouds, folks spent a
good deal of time with their feet firmly planted on the ground.
For example, home gardens were practical if not pretty places
designed to provide nourishment for families while medicine
chests were filled with home-remedies although perhaps a tad
bare by today’s standards.
And if the “humors” got you down, there were always a few
tried-and-true remedies you could count on to get you back on
your feet (besides bleeding or purging).
– Cayenne pepper sprinkled on one’s socks could cure “cold
feet”.
– Thorough-wort, red raspberries and sage were said to do
wonders to relieve the symptoms of flu or a cold.
– Caraway and fennel seeds in food were used to cure a bilious
body of “windy colic”.
– Pillows stuffed with hop seeds provided an alternative to
counting sheep and, more often than not, afforded owners the
gift of pleasant dreams.
– Catnip apparently kept the wee ones calm and quiet if not the
cats as well; (and in my day, kids and cats were to be seen and
definitely not heard).
Instead of looking to “Father Knows Best”, the “Wizard of Oz” or
“Superman” to save the day, those who came before us lived
simpler lives and no doubt understood the notion that perhaps
“nature knows best”.
So, when your world starts to look like a hodgepodge, and you
can’t find the silver lining behind your cloud…why not take a
break from the 500-channel universe and the chatterbox of life.
Count to ten, take a deep breath…and enjoy a walk in nature –
it’s the one thing in life that isn’t created by spin doctors,
has no brand-name, and doesn’t go blah, blah blah!
_________
For more information about musings on life, the Universe and
everything in between…drop by and take a wee peek at “The
Quipping Queen” — www.quippingqueen.blogspot.com.