Grocery Bullets

I slept for 14 hours last night AND I took a 90 minute nap today, Still just wiped out. I think: "WALK walk WALK walk" and my body goes: "walk        ....  walk       ....  walk       ....  walk." But I still have a pressing collection of thoughts that require feedback.

• Dryer sheets and fabric softener. Why? These would be at the very bottom of my grocery list. I know others buy these things as if they were a staple. You may be one of these people. I picture the people who buy these must be the ones who buy all the little things that pander to the senses. I picture their houses as a constant neural bombardment of Enya music, air freshener plug-ins, wind chimes and aromatherapy. I must be wrong. Am I wrong? Do you really enjoy the smell and texture? Is it worth it? Am I missing out?
•  Mangoes. (The fruit, not the weird way Easterners refer to bell peppers.) Mangoes contain the same substance that causes the allergic reaction in poison ivy.
  "Mango peel and sap contains urushiol, the chemical in poison ivy and poison sumac that can cause urushiol-induced contact dermatitis in susceptible people. Cross-reactions between mango contact allergens and urushiol have been observed. Those with a history of poison ivy or poison oak contact dermatitis may be most at risk for such an allergic reaction. Urushiol is also present in mango leaves and stems. During mango's primary ripening season, it is the most common source of plant dermatitis in Hawaii."
• Teeny little brillo pads. I so dearly wish the Brillo people had made this years ago. My under-sink was always full of rusty half-used brillo pads. Look, I have persmission to use it and throw it away.
   
• Peaches. Do people eat the peach without peeling it? Really? Do you? Do you eat other fuzzy foods? Are you the same people who use fabric softener? 

Comments

[Elsa]

I'm not much help. Don't much like peaches, don't much like mangoes, don't like dryer sheets at all.

But! Am inexplicably thrilled at the idea of mini Brillo pads!

[~~Silk]

I use dryer sheets only for things that will otherwise have a lot of static cling. When I was buying lace items on eBay, I was very annoyed by people who tucked an unused dryer sheet in with the item. They made me gag.

If you store brillo pads underwater in a capped butter dish, they don't rust.

Yeah, I eat fresh peaches skin and all. But I peel kiwi fruit. I can't think of anything else fuzzy (except things that have been stored too long).

[magpie]

1. I sometimes buy and use dryer sheets, to combat static cling, not for the scent. in fact, i usually cut them in half because a whole one is too stinky. But I hardly ever actually use them, even though I have some.

2. I like mangoes and I am hideously allergic to poison ivy and I just don't understand why mangoes are okay. Also, I've never heard a bell pepper called a mango. Ever. Did you mean Eastern like Asian?

3.

4. I eat peaches with the skin on. What other fruits are fuzzy?

[Zayrina]

Yes I use dryer sheets. Does this make me some kind of social outcast or freak?

I eat nectarines, like a peach without the fuzz.

[~~Silk]

[Magpie: "Mangos" for sweet bell peppers is mainly a central and eastern Pennsylvania thing. I called them mangos until I left Pa. and discovered that no one knew what I was talking about. The fruit mangos is called "mango fruit" as opposed to the mango vegetable.]

[Big Dot]

But mangoes are so delicious! Even if they leave you with teeth like a baleen whale's. It's only the sap that can be irritating - in northern Australia, they lose lots of mango pickers at the start of each season as they discover they're allergic. Not everybody is.

Anti-static stuff can be useful in the dryer (which I hardly ever use) but they're expensive and smelly so I just pour a bit of fabric softener on a face flannel that lives in the dryer - works just as well, much cheaper, and less perfumed.

Peaches! Pft. Nectarines are the way to go: more flavour, no fuzz.

[Wendy]

I eat peaches without peeling them. I do not eat kiwi without peeling them. Mangoes are a lot of trouble because of the giant seed. Dryer sheets are good for rubbing down the slide at the park. Whee!

[wyo]

I do not use dryer sheets. I go out of my way for stuff that does NOT smell. And static? Whatever. One quick flick of the wrist and the static is OUT of the clothes. The socks are across the room, but (again) whatever.

I passed the new of the mangoes on to my mother, who is horribly sensitive to poison ivy. She said she had never heard this before and immediately swore off mangoes. Then my sister chimed in, saying she (sister) HAD heard it before. So I get more caring points than my sister today, since she knew but didn't tell Mom.

I do not use Brillo pads. Do you need to have cast iron cookware to have them? Oh, wait. I have cast iron cookware. But I don't use it, so it's a wash.

Peaches ... the fuzz is damn annoying. So I eat nectarines. Too much work to de-fuzz a peach. And too oogy to contemplate the fuzz stuck in my teeth.

[TheQueen]

Elsa - I know! Wee pads! I wonder why we couldn't have just cut up regular Brillo pads. Well, except for the being made of metal part.
~~Silk - The thought of perpetually soggy brillo pads sounds just awful to me. But, good tip.
Magpie - 3? And I think I'm like wyo, one flick of the wrist and static is gone. In fact ... In my youth staticy hair and clothes were a big problem, but not in the last five years. The only static I get is on the granny panties, and I kind of like pulling them apart to that nice sparky sound.
Zayrina - No, it sure sounds like it makes you normal. (As if "normal" is a real state.) And, you are not staticy, like wyo and I.
Big Dot - Skip the baleen whales - what's a face flannel? A washcloth?
Wendy - Yes! I had ONE mango ONCE. I wanted to use it for mango ice cream. It had no flavor and it wouldn't let go of the seed. Had to throw it out. (Feeding mangoes to the devil.)
Wyo - No, I never have to use them on cast iron stuff. Only on thin stock pots. Good for the caring points! My complaint with nectarines and peaches: I once had a freestone peach. Or may it was a nectarine. No other stone fruit has been as good since, even though advertised as free stone.

[Tami]

I use lavender scented fabric softener. When I don't, I think that my laundry smells boring. Dryer sheets annoy me, because they stick to clothes where you don't notice them, like embarrassment grenades.

I eat peach skin, but almost never eat peaches. I have to be in "the mood".

I buy my mango already cut up from the Apple Farm Market behind the iHop. I like it when it's not any work. I'm also not very allergic to poison ivy.

[Shannon]

Not into fabric softener, but dryer sheets are a must. Don't your clothes get all staticky if you don't use dryer sheets? Mine do, and it drives me nuts.

Not a big fan of Mangoes, or Brillo Pads.

I eat peaches with the skin and without. Takes too much time and effort to peel.

[magpie]

As for 3, I don't think I've ever bought Brillo pads. I hate them. I always think I'm going to get little metal shards in my fingers.

[TheQueen]

Tami - "embarrassment grenades" -- ha!
Shannon- Yes, they get staticy, then I pull them apart and laugh while they fall limply apart.
Magpie - Yes, but sometimes nothing else works.

[Caroline]

Peach fuzz disgusts me but my daughter will eat as many peaches as you let her in a day, fuzz and all. Then she'll save the pits for a collection unless I manage to intervene.

[TheQueen]

Caroline - My Dad collected apricot pits, but that had something to do with Laetrile. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amygdalin#Laetrile