Did you ever notice the apprehension in the hearts of people as the expiration date on something nears. It scares the snot out of people that something is going to start growing out of the milk bottle. Of course, I think we are all guilty to some extent of some kind of food expiration date prejudices. I myself have a thing about bread. If I don't use it up right away, I don't like to eat it after a couple of days. I think it's more that I really like fresh bread for my sandwiches and not so much that the expiration date worries me.
Today everything has an expiration date. I think it's great for food. I agree wholeheartedly on that. It's even good when they put it on film canisters. I've used some film after the date and it still worked okay. I've had some golf balls which I felt should have had an expiration date on them because they didn't seem to go as far as they should. Clothes sort of have a built-in expiration date. After a certain length of time, the clothes become outdated by themselves - the trouble is that sometimes the wearer doesn't realize it.
Men are worse about this than women. It's amazing when some men come into my store and ask for things that are completely out of date. This never happens when the man is accompanied by a woman. She usually has an idea what she wants him to look like. I'm not saying that men are dodos when it comes to dressing - it's just not as high on a lot of men's priority list. If the wife or girlfriend likes the looks of what the man is wearing, it's usually all right with him.
Sometimes I wish there was an expiration date on some of the new television shows that are out. There are too many shows that feel they have to be politically correct. Then there are shows that are very intellectually deficient. I know when we were growing up a lot of shows on television were just plain dumb, but they were fun. I wish today's shows didn't have to tell us about sexual preferences, bodily functions and all the other stupid things that give our kids the wrong ideas.
There are some other items that should come with expiration dates, as well. Just think if homework had an expiration date. I think when I went to school, I had the mistaken impression that homework had an expiration date because I never finished it. When the teachers would ask me about it, I never had it. I always thought that when the date it was due was past, then I didn't have to do it anymore. Of course, the teachers would take a dim view of my position. Sometimes, grocery stores don't pay as much attention as they should. This can be good or it can be bad. I have seen some cheese packages that I would not want to touch and I always wonder why some employee doesn't see it and remove the offensive package.
It can be good, though, when close expiration dates save you money. I have seen orange juice and milk close to the expiration date and the price for them is greatly reduced. Sometimes, I would get so excited the items were reduced so much that I would go nuts and stock up on some of the items. The only trouble with that is, any good intentions I had about eating more grains and using the milk on them kind of go out the window when I don't get around to doing it. Then I have to throw the milk or juice out - because their freshness HAS EXPIRED! All the money I saved is gone.
The expiration date is certainly a useful item. I know that sometimes I get confused....if something is frozen does that extend the date? It might be useful to have a dual date on some of these items. Let me hear your expiration date stories by dropping me a line Fred@jcm8250.com
Fred is part owner of John Cicco’s Menswear and IDplus Marketing Solutions in Merrillville.
Until later…………………….Ciao