Our totally caffeinated crew chats about napping, the true nature of the X in Brood X, and Laura’s style of pranking. Pat’s Dad will hopefully fact-check this podcast.
Laura-ism: “Horses’ Tail”
Featuring: Gabby (Weekdays 10a-3p), Laura (Weekdays 7p-Midnight), and Patrick Hanes (Midnight-5a).
Most grocery stores will usually have large windows across the front of the store. But, once you’re inside, that natural light all but disappears. Stores rarely, if ever, have windows along their inner walls. Why is that?
It’s actually a facet of retail shopping psychology. Store owners want to create an environment where you feel comfortable spending both your time & your money. It’s the same reason why a lot of stores have tile floors, since they cause carts to make a lot of noise & you’re forced to instinctively slow down & browse more. Or, in some cases, stores will play up-tempo music when they’re busy as a way to try & speed up your shopping.
But, when it comes to windows (or the lack thereof), stores want you to feel like time is suspended. Grocery stores don’t won’t you to notice if there’s bad weather or impending darkness outside, since the longer you shop, the more you spend. (It’s pretty much the same psychology used by casinos, which don’t have windows nor clocks to aid in that feeling of time suspension.)
There are some practical considerations, as well, though. Large windows that let in sunlight can cause packages to fade, which makes them look old & worn. Plus, switching out valuable wall space for windows would reduce the are available for displays & products that retailers hope to be able to sell you.
Who knows, though…this sort of retail theory could eventually go out of fashion. As a matter of fact, Aldi has experimented with letting in more natural light at its stores in Germany. But, their products had to get special UV coatings to prevent sunlight from affecting both fresh food quality & product label fading. So, whether that will become more common in the grocery industry, as a whole, still remains to be seen. But, if you’re ever stifled by the lack of natural light in your grocery store, you could always try out the farmer’s market!
Got a Mundane Mystery you’d like solved? Send me a message via social media (@AndyWebbRadioVoice), or shoot me an email at [email protected].
BROUGHT TO YOU BY: Airtron Heating & Air Conditioning
If you’re shopping in a grocery store’s baking aisle, you’ll notice that the companies selling 100% corn or peanut oil proudly emblazon the identity of their star vegetables in marquee-sized letters on the label. So, why are they so much more obtuse when it comes to vegetable oil? What mystery veggie (or veggies) do they use to create vegetable oil, and why the secrecy?
It’s natural for consumers, when we see the vague words “vegetable oil” on a label, to assume that the contents of the bottle are either a “bad” oil, like cottonseed, coconut, or palm oil (which cardiologists consistently warn us about), or a blend of several different vegetables.
Well, in fact, until recently most vegetable oils actually were blends. But now, all the major brands like Wesson & Crisco, as well as many generic & store-brand vegetable oils, use 100% soybean oil as the “vegetable” in vegetable oil.
Soybean oil has pretty much all the characteristics of the “good” oils. Yet, here in North America, we still haven’t embraced soybeans (all the while, we’ll happily pay a premium for corn & peanut oil). So, until consumers are convinced that “soybean oil” is more desirable than “vegetable oil”, soybeans will just have to continue to forego their rightful star billing on the label & keep appearing only in the fine print.
But at least you know now what’s in your vegetable oil!
And, if you’ve got a Mundane Mystery you’d like to know about, send me a message via social media (@AndyWebbRadioVoice), or shoot me an email at [email protected].
BROUGHT TO YOU BY: Airtron Heating & Air Conditioning
This week Tom met with Sheriff Chuck Jenkins. He has been the Sheriff for the past 15 years. Tom learned what his favorite breakfast and lunch spots are, his favorite movie and if he believes in aliens!
