Bread & Circuses

I’m
not sure whether this is a parable, a trope, or a template – I’m sure there’s a
term, a part of speech, an expression in Fowler, synecdoche , perhaps?  (I had
to look that up.)  Something that
happens, or you happen upon, that appears to illustrate some larger truth. 

 

I
bought a loaf of Pepperidge Farm bread a week or so ago, Sweet Hawaiian, as it
happens, and when I went to buy it again, it was nowhere to be found.  At first, I figured I’d gone to a different
store than usual, Smith’s instead of Albertson’s, but then I ran into an
Orowheat guy, stocking shelves at Sprouts, and he told me he guessed Pepperidge
Farm was giving up on the northern New Mexico market, because they couldn’t find
anybody to take over the route.  I’m
like, What?  Pepperidge Farm was a local
staple, when I was growing up.  They were
a New England brand, like Hood milk, or Narragansett
beer, or Nehi.  Later, they rolled out
nationally, and nowadays you can find their cookies at a CVS, or Walgreens.  Milk chocolate macadamia is no longer a
specialty item.  But what was up with the
bread ?

There
have been a lot of problems with the supply chain, lately.   It has to do primarily with businesses not
carrying inventory, and depending on distributorships.   We’ve all gotten used to immediate
gratification, Amazon delivering on demand.  
The problem comes when the world runs out of toilet paper, or salt, or
any other commodity, and the system clanks to a halt.   All those container ships  anchored
off of Long Beach ,
waiting to unload sneakers.

Another
possible villain in this narrative is vertical integration.   A single corporate structure is responsible
for too many steps; in other words, the company’s work philosophy is manifest
all up and down the chain of command, and whether that philosophy is loose and
intuitive, or uptight and hierarchal, the law of diminishing returns sets
in.   One example would be
publishing.   There used to be dozens of
trade publishers putting out books, and now there are essentially the five
majors.   It hasn’t turned out all that
well for writers, or books, or the publishing industry at large.   I’m sorry, am I wrong about this?   The more you consolidate, the less diverse
your results.   It seems self-evident.   Any one true church enforces orthodoxy.  

The
place this leads me is the diminishing marketplace of ideas.   There’s less competition.     The loudest
voices shout down our conversation, and suck all the air out of the room.   Your product won’t get shelf space, even if
it’s the hottest thing since sliced bread.

I
really want this coming New Year to be better, to show some promise, and give
us hope.   Here we are in the season of
the shortest days, and the longest nights.  
But as my pal Alice
used to say, the day after the winter solstice is the first day of summer.   Each morning is brighter.   It’s hard to believe in, when the hours are
so dark.   I can only suggest we nourish
ourselves, and turn toward the light.                                                                       photo credit: Carole Aine Langrall