It wasn’t that long ago when the thought of buying eggs in sixes only and nothing else considered before coming to Bulgarian was the norm. Them only to discover that in Bulgaria if you only need one egg then you can buy one egg, no problem and no waste.
It has been just this year in supermarkets in Yambol that eggs boxes have been introduced in the egg bound refrigerated sections. Before that they all came in tied plastic bags and it was quite a feat to get the eggs home without being scrambled, that was part of the fun of shopping, for me. It was an event and an adventure buying eggs this way and broke up the boredom of everything being so easy. Call me a man wanting to live on the edge if you may, there is nothing better than a challenge, that's the appeal with the way eggs were sold.
It all began in new supermarket Kaufland, which had just finished being built. It opened on the edge of Yambol last year. The German supermarket monster introduced egg cartons, specifically design, and well designed I may add, for Bulgarian customers making life so much easier to take eggs back home with them. When I saw this my heart dropped, a big of Bulgaria had disappeared before my very eyes, I knew this was the beginning of the end of the flimsy plastic bagged eggs. Even worse now was the fact that you could not buy less than six eggs! The cartons were not for splitting Bulgarian folk now have to take all six. Europe has invaded and conquered were my thoughts.
What did Bulgarians think of this? Galia, understandably with her true Bulgarian mind, just for the life of her couldn’t figure out why I was so upset about the change. All she could see was the benefits of getting the eggs home unscathed. She also couldn't see the deeper turning of the screw where she was being forced to buy more eggs than she needed. She didn’t see the supermarket taking control of her budget on eggs.
I thought that was the end of the story, as other supermarkets in Yambol will now adopt the same packaging. It was only last week, the last bastion on eggs in plastic bags suddenly disappeared in my local small supermarket. Not a bag of eggs to be seen, just egg cartons sealed in plastic in sixes. There was just as much plastic there as was used as a bag the eggs before but now the carton is added which will end up as carbon in the atmosphere. Another sigh was made as I saw this moment of no return came about.
Was that the end? Not quite as I looked again last night at the egg section, there were now cartons containing just four eggs not six! This was a spanner in the works of EU dictatorship, I’m just waiting for a EU official to see this and put a directive on it as well as making sure that the Rakia duty comes in eventually.
The whole egg saga is of course purely contained to town shops and supermarkets; in the villages it is a different story as the eggs, even if delivered in sixes. These will be split for customers, besides, no one buys eggs in villages except the expatriates, but then they will ask for six and demand six anyway as they have been brought up on this.
Add:
Finally, the EU had caught up with us as I looked in our small local Vilton supermarket. this very day. All eggs were now in the cardboard containers in sixes! I have just experienced eggs packed as we used to know them here for the last time ever. This is a very sad day for me in Yambol.
It has been just this year in supermarkets in Yambol that eggs boxes have been introduced in the egg bound refrigerated sections. Before that they all came in tied plastic bags and it was quite a feat to get the eggs home without being scrambled, that was part of the fun of shopping, for me. It was an event and an adventure buying eggs this way and broke up the boredom of everything being so easy. Call me a man wanting to live on the edge if you may, there is nothing better than a challenge, that's the appeal with the way eggs were sold.
It all began in new supermarket Kaufland, which had just finished being built. It opened on the edge of Yambol last year. The German supermarket monster introduced egg cartons, specifically design, and well designed I may add, for Bulgarian customers making life so much easier to take eggs back home with them. When I saw this my heart dropped, a big of Bulgaria had disappeared before my very eyes, I knew this was the beginning of the end of the flimsy plastic bagged eggs. Even worse now was the fact that you could not buy less than six eggs! The cartons were not for splitting Bulgarian folk now have to take all six. Europe has invaded and conquered were my thoughts.
What did Bulgarians think of this? Galia, understandably with her true Bulgarian mind, just for the life of her couldn’t figure out why I was so upset about the change. All she could see was the benefits of getting the eggs home unscathed. She also couldn't see the deeper turning of the screw where she was being forced to buy more eggs than she needed. She didn’t see the supermarket taking control of her budget on eggs.
I thought that was the end of the story, as other supermarkets in Yambol will now adopt the same packaging. It was only last week, the last bastion on eggs in plastic bags suddenly disappeared in my local small supermarket. Not a bag of eggs to be seen, just egg cartons sealed in plastic in sixes. There was just as much plastic there as was used as a bag the eggs before but now the carton is added which will end up as carbon in the atmosphere. Another sigh was made as I saw this moment of no return came about.
Was that the end? Not quite as I looked again last night at the egg section, there were now cartons containing just four eggs not six! This was a spanner in the works of EU dictatorship, I’m just waiting for a EU official to see this and put a directive on it as well as making sure that the Rakia duty comes in eventually.
The whole egg saga is of course purely contained to town shops and supermarkets; in the villages it is a different story as the eggs, even if delivered in sixes. These will be split for customers, besides, no one buys eggs in villages except the expatriates, but then they will ask for six and demand six anyway as they have been brought up on this.
Add:
Finally, the EU had caught up with us as I looked in our small local Vilton supermarket. this very day. All eggs were now in the cardboard containers in sixes! I have just experienced eggs packed as we used to know them here for the last time ever. This is a very sad day for me in Yambol.
So sad...I'm sure it was a pleasure to experience even the smallest adventure. I can truly imagine living such as you describe and often think I should have been born a hundred years ago. Today, if we enjoy pleasures such as that, we are considered eccentric. Perhaps that why I enjoy escaping into the wilds of Colorado, to leave the bustling towns and people behind and experience nature and wildlife. Very nice article, Martin!
ReplyDeleteI love this, you are truly a man who loves living on the edge....where will you turn to get your adrenaline flowing now that the egg nazis have filed down the edge?
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI used to buy eggs in whatever quantity in the grocery shop here when I was a student back then. Now, no more.