That's life

Just when I thought I had grasped quite a bit of that general knowledge which could be expected from a girl my age, there sitting on that shelf in the supermarket is more knowledge.

Hardly the place for sudden enlightenment, but have you ever come across the term 'diabetic jam'? Well, there I was always having used the term 'sugar-free' and suddenly wham in the face I'm told I had better revise my vocabulary. The fact that the source of illumination was a bottle of jam really doesn't help.

However, if you have ever seen a girl in a supermarket staring at the jam shelf while her father kept trying to pull her away, it was probably me on that day. You see, I have never known that jam could be diabetic.

There I was always having thought that only humans and animals could get diabetes. Ah, but no. Woodapple, Strawberry and most other fruits apparently do come in diabetic varieties. You see, this rather fascinated me. Bet Daddy Boy had never hard of that one.

So finally I made him stop and listen to me. He took one look at the labels and in the same voice he used to explain to me why the ostrich was still a bird when it couldn't fly, he proceeded to tell me that 'diabetic jam' was actually meant for people with diabetes.

Infact it is actually sugar-free, he said. I know that Daddy Boy has won against me several important arguments (no, you can't run away from home just because you don't like your dress with the Peter-Pan collar and little puffed sleeves, was one when I was eight or seven-years old). Well, there was no way he going to win this one.

I mean, there it was written clearly in big letter on the label itself - 'Diabetic Jam' in all its glory. If Daddy Boy were right what would a person without diabetes do if he wanted sugar-free jam? Exactly, go for sugar-free jam.

Which was not this particular jam, where they had so obviously used an unheard variety of fruits so familiar. After all technology is quite an advanced tool. If woodapples have never been diabetic, I bet they could produce diabetic woodapples.

Well, take a look at margarine then, said I. If Daddy Boy were to be correct, then low-fat margarine would be called coronary heart disease margarine or high cholesterol margarine or something equally ailment based.

Ha, I said triumphantly. I was sure to be right. Daddy Boy shook his head in slow motion. What on earth did I do to have a daughter who'd stare at jams in the supermarket refusing to see reason in an argument on the aisle... muttered he under his breath.

"The person who designed the label probably meant to say that this jam is meant for people with diabetes and is sugar free" explained Daddy Boy.

"But how about making them feel that they are buying the product to stay healthy, instead of making them feel that they are buying it because they have a sickness?" asked I.

"Exactly why we are not buying any" replied Daddy Boy finally dragging me away from the shelf of jam with the offensive labels.

Dilini Algama