Gold Bond Blues

For years, people have been subtly pointing out my lack of appreciation for change. I’ve kind of agreed with them. I’m set in my ways, and while I can be prompted to try an exploratory new drink in a coffee house (almost always with disastrous results—meaning, I spent $4.00 for a drink I can’t stand), I’m probably never going to be the most adventurous person you are ever going to meet when it comes to trying new things.

But I think I’m staring to see my friends’ point. A few days ago, while at the grocery store, I went hunting for a bottle of Gold Bond “skin therapy lotion.” I love that stuff. It’s too expensive, but I buy it anyway. Well, I always buy the Gold Bond that comes in the green bottle. I think it’s their “original” formula or something like that. I don’t know for sure, and frankly, I’ve never cared. I just always reach for the green bottle. Well, I get to the lotion aisle, and I can’t find the green bottle anywhere. Turns out, some genius, probably in marketing, decided to change the colors of the bottles.

“Oh, great,” I whispered to myself. “Now which one am I going to buy?”

I went back and forth before finally deciding to go with “Gold Bond Ultimate.” Turns out that it’s not the same stuff I normally buy. I’m sure it’ll work just fine, but it irritated me. And then I had to laugh. I remembered my grandma sending me on runs to the grocery store. I’d ask her what brand of such n’ such she wanted and she’d say something like, “Get the green one.” I’d roll my eyes and think, “Oh great…what if they changed the color of the packaging? I’ll be there all day…and no matter which one I pick up, it’ll be the wrong one.”

Maybe I was a little more like Grandma than I ever realized. I bet she’d get a laugh out of that if she were still alive.