Wednesday, November 10, 2010

The "McDonaldisation" Of The World

Stores are already marking products down two weeks before Thanksgiving and the consumer thinks this is great... it's not.

It's a habit stores have gotten themselves into, and in as much as one can never say never, they'll never get out of it. The capacity to produce has outweighed the capacity to consume for a long time and will continue to. Instead of working at being better merchants, retailers have worked at squeezing the suppliers and thus doing business by accounting. The supplier therefore works at figuring out how to produce cheaper merchandise, and neither side spends time on bringing to the consumer an attractive garment... just what can be perceived as an attractive bargain as cheaply as possible, clearly limiting quality and design.

One would think that the edge, the advantage, would then go to the designer designing beautiful products...it doesn't. The consumer's taste level has been watered down over the years because uninspiring products end up in stores in order to meet price requirements. So much so that the recognition of better, superior, of higher quality and design integrity in products needs to be relearned. One may come to believe that they are being served a hamburger at McDonalds because that is what they've called it for generations now, but it doesn't mean that it has anything to do with a real hamburger.

Undoing the "McDonaldisation" of the world at this point would be like squeezing toothpaste back into the tube. Beautifully designed and manufactured garments will continue to become a rarity.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

This morning's recipe for Happiness:Recipe for Penne With Sausage And Saffron

Recipe for Penne With Sausage And Saffron : La Cucina Italiana

Happiness before 8:00 in the morning is usually found in a warm cup of coffee for most. Seeing that I am more of the espresso type, it won't shock you to learn then that a pasta recipe is the contributing factor to my joye de vivre this morning.

It spoke to me emphatically, passionately, yet gently like an old friend whose words I have always respected and have never let me down. It spoke with the simple comforts of Penne while intriguing me with the sophistication of Saffron and ultimately lured me in with the primordial offering of sweet Sausage. My sustenance concerns for the day removed I can now look forward to my work.

Some days are simpler....and happier that others.