I have a lot to say about my trip back to the US

[expatgirl]

But for now, just this:

American grocery stores are HUGE and FULL of STUFF, most of which I don't understand!

You know that scene in The Hurt Locker where Jeremy Renner's character stands, dazed, in a cereal aisle the size of a studio apartment while he tries to choose between 8 nearly identical kinds of frosted wheat? 

Yeah, that.  

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[aerialiste]

Yesterday screened the first half of the documentary Food, Inc. to my rhetoric students and the look on their faces when they realized like six companies are behind ≈40,000 "different" food products in the store—

[expatgirl]

Oh I bet! I had a bit of that experience when I worked at a packaging design firm. My client was P&G, and when I went through their onboarding materials I read about all the brands they control and their 'strategy' for getting the developing world to be good, loyal consumers.

Anyway, after a year of dealing with them I stopped buying P&G products unless I've got no other choice. (Though it's hard to keep track of all the brands they own...)