SOUP

My family has been laughing at me and to be honest, I have also enjoyed the banter.

A couple of months ago, I ordered my groceries and asked for Campbell’s Golden Mushroom Soup only to discover that it has been discontinued in Canada.  Now this was a big deal for me as I have used this product to make oven stew for several decades.

My oldest grandson has an executive positive with a distribution company that supplies groceries to over 660 stores in western Canada, so I contacted him about my problem.  He explained that there was nothing he could do so I then went to my default style of writing directly to Campbell’s with my concerns.

I explained that this particular soup has been a staple in my cupboard and because the company had promoted recipes using it since the 1960s, I believed that I was not alone with my concern.  The reply that I received was detailed, polite and signed by Henry D.  It never crossed my mind that this customer service specialist was likely an AI bot until a younger grandson suggested this.

I was told that Campbell’s discontinues products based on sales numbers and that I would be sent a coupon by them with encouragement to try other soup flavours and hopefully find a new favourite. 

In the meantime, I checked Amazon and discovered that I could order six cans of Golden Mushroom for $74.00.  Not a great idea!  My daughter did an internet search and found cans for $1.36 each but that was a United States price.  Then my younger grandson got excited about cans that were being auctioned on eBay and suggested that I quickly put in a bid.  This was becoming a fun family activity!

I took a photo of my last can before I made stew and by this time we were all laughing!  What a dilemma when Grandma is having to face a significant change in her life and is in grief!

YouTube provided a video that explained the downsizing of Campbell’s soup company in both employees and products.  Apparently, the company is, like me, also experiencing change!

So, to carry the fun further, I wrote back to Henry D., my new pen pal of sorts, and explained the dilemma further.  I actually wrote out my recipe for stew which I had originally learned from Campbell’s and asked Henry D to consider the impact on consumers before consulting with his marketing team about the possibility of producing Golden Mushroom again. (Ya, right?)

This week my groceries arrived and as I was putting them away, I was surprised and pleased to realize that there was one more can of Golden Mushroom hidden near the back of the cupboard.  What a windfall!

Are there things or activities that you have used or have done for decades that have recently ended?  How did you handle the change?  With time, did you cope and perhaps even benefit from the new way of doing things thinking that the new way is actually better than the old way?

And did you learn to laugh at how ludicrous you can be over what to other people might seem to be trivial?

It really doesn’t matter what happens, as long as you are able to have a good laugh because that is one of the best self-care practices that you can adopt!

And I am happy because I can make my oven stew one more time!

Dr. Linda Hancock, the author of “Life is An Adventure…every step of the way” and “Open for Business Success” is a Registered Psychologist who has a private practice in Medicine Hat.  She can be reached at 403-529-6877or through email office@drlindahancock.com