Consumer trends and tender tooshies

An aunt and uncle from my husband's side, who have lived most of their lives in Germany and now in their golden years have settled back in their village (near Soufli, Evros) visited us this week. We got a chance to catch up on family news, village tidings and international politics. At one point we even discussed how conveniently low-priced the German supermarket chains are (Lidl, Plus) and have come to the rescue of the ailing Greek household budget.

The Aunt, not missing a skip from village gossip, commented how the other women in the village refuse to buy products from these chains because they consider them inferior to popular, high-priced brand names. She sardonically quoted a middle-aged neighbour who thought the toilet paper from these supermarkets is "too harsh".

I managed to keep a straight face at this scuttlebutt, until my husband -who grew up in the village and remembers (quite well) that running water and sewers were added a mere 30 some years ago - remarked: "They used to wipe their butts with corn husks out in the fields and they find Lidl toilet paper harsh?"

I doubled over with laughter.