Shelf Drift

I just got back from the Farmer’s Market and the supermarket. Something clicked. When you shop in a supermarket, you get to know where stuff is. You mostly buy the same things, right? You have a plan and pass through the aisles in a logical manner. (Ok, not always, but usually.) The Farmer’s Market stands haven’t changed for the past twelve years I’ve been going there. My pluot lady is always in the same place. Likewise, goat cheese, pistachios, tomatoes, etc., all in clearly defined spaces. But the supermarket changes shelves drastically with the seasons. Is Google, like the supermarket, making room for back to school items? Or are they just screwing around with all these radical updates to Google+, Maps, YouTube and the rest?

As you search fruitlessly for that one thing you came for, hundreds of products compete for your attention. Suddenly, you’re in front of a wildly-colored display of butter brickle dark chocolate ice cream, or jalapeño and black bean flavored low salt chips, or edible panties. Yes, they do! I wouldn’t shop at a supermarket that didn’t have those! Detouring around the cupcakes for the masa harina, finds you in front of a tube of habañero-flavored lube.

I don’t know who I am anymore.