Goddamn Liquids

So, I'm at the Supermarket, which is already not good, because I don't function well after about 15 minutes inside one. I get shelf-vertigo and all the labels start swimming and whirling. But anyway, I'm at the supermarket, and it occurs to me how much energy is spent on processing, packaging, shipping, and carrying products that are mostly water. Whether it's juice or detergent, milk or soda, we're talking about lugging a lot of water.

So I get to the counter and somehow manage to wrench my wrist while putting a quart of apple juice on the best and begin muttering to myself about liquids and how there are too many of them. And for whatever reason, I turn to the woman who's unfortunate enough to be trapped behind me in line and ask, "Have you ever thought about how many liquids we carry home from this place."

She is silent.

"I mean, water's basically free right?"

She nods in that way one nods at a street person when they tell you they're getting messages from Venus telling them that squirrels are evil.

"What if," I suggest, "they were all powdered?  Powdered soda, powdered juice, powdered beer..."

I got as far as powdered beer when she said, "I forgot eggs," and ran off.

Sometimes I frighten people. Maybe I am a street lunatic. On the whole, it could be worse. I could be powdered beer.

 

Comments

[Andrew]

You are basically right, here, but there are some issues. Some companies are removing water from products, such as concentrated detergents. And there has always been frozen concentrated orange juice (not to mention Tang, which I just mentioned). Many sodas are also shipped cross-country as just syrup, to be bottled locally.

But, some products just don't lend themselves to this process. Take beer, for example. You might get most of the flavor, but I'm pretty sure you can't reduce the alcohol, and I'm really sure you can't reduce the bubbles. And, have you ever eaten powdered eggs? Not near as good as the real thing.

A second issue is cost. It may just be cheaper to ship a truck or trainload of water-laden products than it would be to remove that water in the first place.

Finally, there is quality of the finished product. Not everybody's water tastes the same. FCOJ or Coca-Cola may be a strong enough flavor to cover for that in many places, but not all products can do that. So, it makes sense from a quality standpoint to control the final flavor everywhere by using one water source at the plant.

[Charlie]

I can see you've thought this thru. All good points. Never really thought about the cola syrup thing, but of course that's sensible.

My trouble is I'm trying to pour 5 gallons of crazy into a 1 gal jug. lol.

[trainwatcher]

Get a bigger jug, Charlie. Don't waste a drop of that crazy. We need it all.

[sparkly jules]

So I'm not the only one who talks to strangers in line. Huh. I get the same look/reaction most of the time, but not always. Like the time at the post office when there were at least 25 of us in line and one guy working at the window...I started complaining and a wave of complaints went up and down the line. LOL (I don't go to that post office anymore. They always suck.)

I never thought about all the stuff we carry home that is mostly water. But you are right. Considering humans are 97% water, it kind of makes sense, in a twisted sort of way.

J.

[Charlie]

Sometimes I think of us as spiders, just sucking the juice from our prey and leaving the dried husks behind. Clearly I'm not well. lol.