Ode to Sour Cream

One of the most challenging day to day activities is shopping. I, for the life of me, can not find a logical pattern to where items are located in the store. Often there will be cheeses in three different areas of the store, for example. The SAME types of cheeses in different areas. And the stores are all layed out very differently. It takes me an eternity to find something. And sometimes a store will carry something in stock, and sometimes it doesn’t. NOBODY in the store knows why or when the item may arrive again. They either have it or my dinner plans must be changed.

The other frustration I have is that specialized products are difficult to find. There are no “one-stop” shopping marts. An electronic store may have televisions and car alarms, but won’t carry car stereo’s. And googling an item in hopes that a shop that sells it will pop up isn’t effective. This is the advantage of the fervour American business have to find your wallet, at least they can be easily found when necessary! Here, you need to know somebody who knows a shop that carries the item. Or embark on an endless search through a random neighbourhood in hopes that somewhere nearby a shop has what you need.

For example, after an exhaustive search for over four months, I finally found the cool and creamy, delicious and delectable sour cream. Up to date I’ve tried sour milk, sour cream, full cream, French cream in various brands. But to no avail. It only resulted in pouring chunky, outdated milk onto my pasta (Sour [spoiled] milk is a Xhosa delicacy and sold in stores; it is actually one of Nelson Mandela’s favourite foods). I dumped the equivalent of whole milk on my baked potato. And I’ve added sweet cream to my burrito. I had virtually given up, until I went to a grocery store nearby that I rarely go to. There is was: ‘cultured’ sour cream. Apparently the others just weren’t sophisticated or well-travelled enough.