These Little Bottles Have Been Holding Us Down.

These Little Bottles Have Been Holding Us Down.

A little market research while strolling the Walmart spice aisle. These bottles seem so small, but they’ve been getting most of us by forever.

A little over ten years ago, I started buying wholesale and bulk—online and at spice shops and farmers markets in NYC, Decatur/ATL, and Houston. I typically don’t buy things finely ground. Give me whole, cut and sifted, or coarse-ground if I havvvvee to choose.

This time I looked at the prices, which I don’t normally do. 🤦🏾♀️ I know, I know. It’s not a flex, but sometimes favor is not fair.

However!!!! Lately we ALL feel the pinch. 🤏🏾

It had me thinking about what’s offered to us—and the flavor we might be missing because we’re afraid to try something or someone different. Or because paying more for an experience we don’t even know we’ll like feels like a gamble.

Random segue. On our sixth-grade senior trip to Hersheypark, we bought chocolates and cookies and HATED them!!! Mrs. Walker told us, essentially: you’re not used to fresh chocolate. You’re used to the outdated, mishandled stuff they sell to people in the inner city.

🤯

Now, that was her explanation, not something I can verify about those chocolates. But what stuck with me? When you’re used to a certain thing and haven’t had the exposure—or the resources to get that exposure—different can immediately become “disgusting.”

Sometimes we don’t like something. Fair. Sometimes it’s just unfamiliar, and we’ve already dismissed it.

I’m not telling anybody to throw out their spice cabinet or spend grocery money proving a point. But maybe try the little sample. Smell something you’ve never cooked with. Give a different shop a chance.

A little of this. A little of that. You might find out you like it.

— RI