Ms. Cranky and ALL THIS “NATURAL STUFF”

Ms. Cranky likes the word ‘natural’ as much as anybody; she is not a fake plasticy kind of person.   She cleans with simple safe products and has done so for years.  But, sometimes she does wonder how far this natural thing can go?

Like today, for instance, Ms. C. called up a company that made a product she was using that she was worried about and they quickly said “Don’t worry, it can’t hurt you, IT HAS ALL NATURAL INGREDIENTS!”  Ms. Cranky thanked the woman, hung up the phone and thought --- ‘so is deadly nightshade natural, so is a rattlesnake sunning himself in the woods’.  But, you don’t eat deadly nightshade and you hope never to step on a rattlesnake --- ouii.

Cranky feels that natural is good and surely a lot better than phony but Ms. Cranky has to wonder how far to carry this thing?

Like the woman in the Laundromat where Cranky goes --- a dinky little over-crowded Laundromat with a myriad of problems --- you could get clobbered over who’s next for the dryer.  It’s a battle, one Cranky dreads and puts off, though she loves the staff and the Laundromat is kept very clean. It’s just too small for all the people who come there and especially with some people thinking they are more important than the rest of us, if you get Ms. Cranky’s drift.

But one day at the Laundromat, this woman was blithely spraying something all over the place as she took the stains out of her laundry there in a public place instead of at home.  Ms. Cranky always gets nervous around sprays, some are really toxic and she avoids them when at all possible so she was ducking around under the folding tables trying to get away from this woman’s spray coming at her face and, finally, asked the woman what was in the can?

“Oh, it’s nothing, just stain removal but it’s all SAFE, it’s all “NATURAL!” the woman quickly retorted --- there goes that word again.  And, Cranky thought while rolling her cart home hoping not to drag her tee shirts on the ground if she hit a bump --- ‘but, all natural isn’t good or they wouldn’t have lists of poisons to avoid, plants your pet shouldn’t go near, foods that taste great but, if you’re allergic, can just about kill you’.  ouii.

“Natural” --- Ms. Cranky wonders if the term is being overused in our current society and how she, we, can get some bearing on it, some correct definition.

So, she’d love to hear your thoughts on this word and whether all products saying natural are truly safe to squirt in someone’s face?

Thanks for stopping by, it’s always a pleasure to talk with you.

Old Ms. C.