Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Have You Noticed This Shrinking Trend?

Drawing copyright 2013 Ron Levellie
While eating baby-back ribs recently, I noticed how dinner napkins are shrinking. It’s bad enough that manufacturers inject air into the napkins to make them appear plump. Now they’re decreasing their size. One used to cover my whole lap; these days it barely fits on the top third of a thigh.

Candy bars have also been shrinking with the times. Years ago, it took me five bites to eat my Gooey-Wooey bar. Today I have to get out Grandma’s magnifying glass to gaze at its loveliness before I down it in two nibbles.

And have you been as shocked as I have how ice-cream containers dwindled overnight  from half a gallon to one and a half quarts? We used to serve ice cream with our birthday cakes. Nowadays we simply wave the carton over each plate as a sweet remembrance of more generous times.

Coffee-can shrinkage is another travesty. Remember when you bought coffee by the pound? These days it comes in 12 or 13 oz. packages, for the same price as before. Soon they’ll be selling it by the cup and charging $3.50 a slurp. Oh, they’re already doing that.

TV shows take up only forty-five minutes instead of fifty-two. Today’s cars are the size of my grandson’s scooter. Even Band-Aids barely cover a boo-boo anymore.

I’m so relieved that Jesus’ love never shrinks or diminishes in strength. Jesus stays the same year after year, century after century, forever—even if my favorite pants shrink to the size of a dinner napkin.
©      From My Heart to Yours: Although I tend to base the worth of an item on its size, that doesn’t matter when it comes to problems. God is bigger than any or all of them. Next time one threatens to steal my joy, I need to remind myself of the huge, powerful hand of my Father.


The above is a chapter from my humor/inspirational book, The Heart of Humor, available on Amazon or by contacting me at jeanettelevellie@gmail.com

Are you bugged by this shrinking trend? What large items do you miss the most? 


7 comments:

  1. "...We used to serve ice cream with our birthday cakes. Nowadays we simply wave the carton over each plate as a sweet remembrance of more generous times."

    Hehehehe! ;-D

    Are dinner napkins getting smaller? What a relief! I thought I was getting bigger, despite the shrinking of candy bars.

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  2. I wish I could shrink as easily as companies make their products shrink! I enjoyed reading this again. Gave me a smile to start my day!

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  3. Amen to God's love never 'shrinking!' I do see too, that my groceries bills are getting larger, even though the amount of items I am taking home are 'shrinking.'

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  4. Jen: I really love this. Canned vegetables used to be in 16 ounce cans. Then they went to 15 ounces. I believe my hubby told me they are now 14 ounces. I noticed this trend with canned pumpkin. The recipe I was following read "16 ounce can of pumpkin," what's a woman to do?

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  5. Hi Jeanette! I remember sending my husband to the store for something (can't remember just what), and he called to say they don't make that in the ounce size I wanted. Psh. Really? I know it's all about saving money...the manufacturers money!
    I'm glad that God's presence and love never shrinks too. How blessed are we to have the best Father ever??
    Have a peaceful night,
    Ceil

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  6. I've noticed the shrinkage factor. When the package of candy I buy costs twice as much and has fewer pieces, it's annoying. Yogurt packages - what's with these cartons that are more suited for dollhouse people than adults? Soon, they'll be attaching teeny, tiny spoons hoping we won't see the difference.

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