What makes you feel better?

This will seem crazy, but this can of chicken makes me feel better.

When I was a kid, we had a couple of these cans of whole chicken in our pantry at the cabin. I was very intrigued by the idea of a whole chicken being in there. Mom agreed to open a can one day and cook from it, if just to quiet my begging and curiosity. It was a bit pale, but it definitely tasted like chicken. I can visualize exactly where it was in that pantry, and I'm sure there was a can in there when the cabin burned down.

I hadn't thought about this for many years. Who would? Then, yesterday, while picking up a few things at Market of Choice, my eye was suddenly drawn up to the tippy-top of the shelf in a strange location, caught by the familar red-and-yellow label (which hasn't changed in design in probably 35 years).

Gasp, could it be?!?! OMG, IT IS!!

In my cart it went. Later on, upon studying my receipt, I realized I paid for $6.49 for a 3-lb can of chicken and $22.95 for a 2-lb bag of frozen shrimp. (The shrimp is still a good value, because we only use a little at a time. So I can totally justify it.)

There are earthquakes, tsunamis, windstorms, loss of electrical power, and other emergencies to be prepared for. My canned chicken helps me feel better.


On a somewhat related note about preparedness, purchasing, and abundance-is-comforting-to-me, I found this article illuminating about my own behaviors: http://www.oprah.com/money/How-to-Shop-Smarter-and-Buy-Only-What-You-Need-Martha-Beck/2

Excerpt: "...Men's stress response says "Fight or flee!" Ours says "Fight or flee—and make sure everyone has a nice warm sweater!...Anytime our stress response takes over, we buy the way soldiers fight. "Ours not to reason why," a friend of mine once wrote, "ours but to find and buy." We can't help it. We're victims of our own buy-ology."