Sharpies are in WHSmith. I love, love, love Sharpies. I can't imagine life without Sharpies. I am a Sharpie bore. Now you can get them in Smiths. Maybe I can move back to England.
I spotted Burt's Bees products in Waitrose. Burt's Bees have buzzed into this country. Yes, it probably would be ok to move back now. I'm not sure I could live without Burt's Bees products, but if Waitrose stocks them...
But here's an American import I don't like. The classification of milk.
Once upon a time, there was Gold Top and Silver Top, in glass pint bottles delivered to your door. The top of the Gold Top was what you had on your cereal, if it was your turn. The Silver Top was the ordinary stuff. Then they expanded our horizons by adding a Red Top. But life was still fairly simple. We weren't too far gone from Tess of the D'Urbeville days. Not any more. These days, buying milk is hugely complicated. Supermarkets should offer the public a short training course, and not let us loose near the milk section until we have our certificates. Organic, not organic, Jersey, Cravendale, skimmed, skammed, skummed, semi-skilled, semi-literate, semi-detached, and all those different sizes, from pint-sized to who-has-a-fridge-door-big-enough-for-this-for-heaven's-sake?-sized.
When we moved to America, it took a while to get used to milk by numbers. Whole is still whole, but semi-skimmed is marketed as "2%" and skimmed as "1%". Not too difficult, really, but I have to say, I always preferred the British terminology and enjoyed reverting to it when visiting back here. But now, it seems that the use of percentages has infiltrated Britain too. They couldn't keep it simple though, and stick to 2% and 1% (which is cope-able with, once you've got used to it). Oh no. It's got to be 1.7% and 0.1%, hasn't it? What kind of complex mathematical formulae were used to work out those?
Sharpies, yes. Burt's Bees stuff, yes. Milk by percentages, no no no no no.
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Do they at least call it 'skimmed ' milk instead of 'skim' milk?
ReplyDeleteI used to like the cream off the top of the silver top milk on my cornflakes. I miss that here :-(
I think Burt's Bees has been in the UK for at least 5 years - I remember someone giving me a giftset when Littleboy 1 was a baby.
ReplyDeleteThe milk is annoying. At least in the UK it's full fat, semi-skimmed or skimmed - here in the US there are so many different varieties, with hugely varying prices -for example if you go to Whole Foods, the fully organic brand is twice the price of the own-brand organic. Crazy.
I used to stick my finger in the top of the gold and scoop it out yum!
ReplyDeleteAs for Sharpies, my ten year stint in the States has made me a prime importer of the pen, especially the black ones. They are brilliant for writing my child's name on the label in her clothes.
But the abbreviations for milk took me a while to get to grips with. x
Yeah, Burt's Bees has been in the UK for a couple of years, as I'd previously bought it for my wife and perhaps for my sister too at Christmas time. I assumed it was a British import when I first saw it in the US.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea what Burt's Bees is exactly. I just know it seems to be a farily popular stockig filler.
Still waiting for Cool whip....Hello America! Can you please send me some nondairy chemical dessert topping that actually tastes nice? Please?
ReplyDeleteAh see, the Old Country isn't so bad! I'm afraid I get not further than red, blue, green or purple with the milk, I know red tastes like water, blue makes me want to barf so I stick with the two in the middle. Burt's Bees is in loads of shops these day, not only Waitrose. Love the stuff
ReplyDeleteWe have sharpies, burts bees and milk in our house. Green milk (organic) for the kids and husband. Red milk (organic) for me. Simples.
ReplyDeleteI use Burts Bees regularly. And Sharpies--big YAY! for Sharpies :)
ReplyDeleteBut the milk... I am so used to the British colour coded milk that when I went back to the States recently I felt almost embarrassed that I had no idea what kind of milk I should be buying--as if I should have remembered from when I lived there!
I'm laughing. My housemate thinks I'm crazy. I can tell you've been out longer than I've been in based on your comments here. Did you see the prices on Burt's Bees? I have a heart attack every single time. Sharpies are good. But I do wish the English would catch up with the terminology. How does one ask for a sharpie type pen here? I get all tied up in it every single year when I need a new one. Aaaaah Sharpie. I need rich tea biscuits to make an appearance before I can return to the states. And good powdered coffee. As for milk, I spent a few years just picking one at random here. I still find the combination of the two standards confusing. Why are 1% and 1.5% considered skimmed. And why does organic milk seem to have more cream even though it shares a percentage label, and why can't I buy six pints of red top milk even though I can buy six pints of green and blue top milk. We went by top colors when I was growing up in the US as well. They varied by state though.
ReplyDelete"Good powdered coffee"? Doesn't exist. Anywhere. I'm sure Iota has instigated this discussion before.
ReplyDeleteNo-one has mentioned orange top milk which I think is between red and green. We had the inlaws here this w/e and ran out of the red milk they like (I have it on cereal as a nod to reducing fat levels. Makes no difference I am sure - I am still podgy. Dh suggested watering down some blue...I couldn't quite bring myself though am sure that is what it is.
I was sent 2 free sharpies by my printer ink supplier. Am hooked. Saw a huge multi coloured multi pack in Staples the other day and nearly bought them but for the fact that I'd prefer them to be free.
But what IS Sharpies? Or should I say ARE Sharpies?
ReplyDeleteI am quite used to 1% milk that I've been buying for years!
Maggie X
Nuts in May
"Good powdered coffee". *sharp intake of breath* You'll be telling me that you don't even miss Starbucks when you're in England. Or do they have it over there now? When I visited, I was shocked at what they put in a cup and called "coffee".
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, sounds like you haven't been to the UK in quite a while. You'd be surprised. They have Starbucks now - have for years - but I much prefer Costa Coffee. Not only is the coffee good, they make a cracking pot of tea!
ReplyDeleteI just wish we could import the sunshine. ;D
ReplyDeleteOK here's the thing, I've been in the UK 16 years and as far as I know I've had Sharpies the whole time... Actually now I think about it they're black - right, I have one handy... hang on... my one is called a 'Foray Permanent Marker'. I've probably been using them for years and just calling them Sharpies.
ReplyDeleteYou know, you say Tomato and I say, um, orange... apparently...
There's a Starbucks in Brixton now; they are truly everywhere. Except Italy, apparently.
I could digress further but perhaps I should just shut up now.
You know what I would import - graham crackers - I really love them!
ReplyDeleteHa. And I thought Sharpies were British. Little did I know...
ReplyDelete'Maybe I can move back to England'.
ReplyDeletePlease do. You seem to be utterly miserable living in the US. Nothing passes muster with you, so move someplace else and be happy for a change.